Previously I wrote an article about Money being a way to store value (however it is not the best way to store value) and I took it a step further to bump into what is value?
What Is Value?
During my 20’s I was trying to figure out how to become rich - so I “could be happier”. I was trying to figure out the patterns of why and how wealth accumulates.
I was watching a video on Business by a very clever young fellow. He seemed to be similar to me in trying to distill what he observes into rules, patterns and observations.
In the video he touches upon value and his take on it - was as “Solving Problems”. In the sense that everyone has a problem and value is created when two peoples problems are exchanged for solutions.
So in my examples of say exchanging money for food - one person’s problem is that they are hungry or will be hungry. The other person’s problem is that they need more money.
Negative Bias
My initial dislike with associating value creation to problem solving is that it has an initial bias towards negative aspects.
For example, someone wanting to go on a luxury 1 week sailing trip on a chartered yacht. Mentally - it is hard to frame this luxury experience around the context of a problem.
Clearly someone has a want to do this - the demand exists.
Clearly it is of value to someone consuming this. The experience is worth more to them than the dollars it costs.
It feels a far stretch framing this scenario in the context of a problem.
Sure you might say they are overworked and have a problem of needing to relax. Or it might be a wedding anniversary that they have a problem of trying to figure out something suitable to capture the moment.
Positive Bias
However from a business point of view, seeing the world through a lens of people having problems and you being the bringer of solutions makes things a bit easier to see.
Seeing the world as a sea of problems, discrete markets and opportunities can be a meaningful way of seeing the world.
I’m not sure that simultaneous exchange of solutions for problems is the best way of identifying value - however I do like it from a point of view of a business owner. It seems easier to visualize opportunities with this mindset.
What are your thoughts?