Over the years of selling courses, agency services and consulting – I've learned a simple product model you can adopt to charge more for your work. There are 3 stages.

DIY > DWY > DFY

They stand for Do-It-Yourself, Done-With-You, and Done-For-You.

They work great especially if your business offers some type of service – with the flexibility of creating products.

The value you create as a business gets bigger as you go through the 3 stages. in each, you would offer a different services.

It's simple, really.

Let me explain with an actual example. I'll use KD Trainer as an example, pointing out how they use the 3 product models.

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KD Trainer is a fitness company focused on helping people become healthier and fitter. They manage a full-fledged gym and 3 personal training studios in Penang.

Do-it-yourself. (DIY)

If you have taken a Udemy or Masterclass course – you have consumed a DIY product.

This is the first service level you can provide to customers, where you are essentially asking them to do something themselves.

Pros

  • Usually the cheapest option for customers.
  • You're teaching them to fish. (Self-empowerment)

Cons

  • Provides the lowest value.
  • You can't charge a lot.

The DIY product at KD Trainer is their gym membership. Members show up at the gym and do their own workouts.

Of the 3 product models, DIY products offer the least value to customers.

The KD Trainer gym is fully equipped. But they can't charge a lot of money for it. Not every gym member will show up at the gym and exercise every day even if they paid for it.

While it's sad, it's human nature. Most people don't want to do the hard work.

So, how would we increase the value received by clients? Simple. We move up the value ladder.

Do-With-You. (DWY)

Next, the Do-With-You model is when you teach or show a client how to do something – then mentor or coach them through doing it. This can be done in a one-to-one consulting style or in small groups.

Pros

  • Provides more value to customers.
  • You can charge more than a DIY model.
  • You teach them to fish and make sure they fish correctly.

Cons

  • Still requires clients to put in work.
  • If not managed carefully, can turn into a DFY.

The DWY service at KD Trainer would be their personal training service. A coach will be assigned to a client. They show the client how to exercise, then monitor and correct their form as they do it.

Because of the increase in value received by the client, personal training services will often cost more compared to a regular gym membership.

Another example would be consulting companies. Consulting companies often use the DWY model in their business – running workshops for clients and then measuring the results, as the business use their strategies.

Done-For-You (DFY)

The final stage is the DFY model, where you take on the hard work and do everything for your client.

If you take this to the gym example, this is akin to doing grocery shopping, exercise planning, creating nutrition plans and even prepping meals for a client. Everything is done for the client.

A more extreme DFY service example in the fitness/wellness niche would be liposuction. Just come in and we'll remove your body fats for you.

Pros

  • Provides the highest value to clients.
  • You can charge premium prices.
  • You catch the fish for them.

Cons

  • It'll be hard to sell DFY products if clients don't trust you.
  • Clients may be left to start from zero again – if they stop your service.

Any other examples?

Let's say you sell a business email marketing software at RM250 per month.

For RM250 per month, a business gains access to using your software.

Need set-up help? No problem. Just pay a one-time RM499 fee and our experts will it set it up for you.

Want us to help you write emails and send them for you? Sure! We'll just charge RM3,800 per month, which include the software subscription cost – and we'll take care of your business marketing emails.

See how I went from DIY to DWY and finally DFY?

Conclusion

Different customers will respond to different product levels.

You can see it as a marketing funnel – where you would first funnel prospects into using your DIY product before upgrading to your DWY and eventually your DFY service.

The best businesses usually have different services created for each of the levels. This way, they can cater to different customers with different needs.

How would you implement this in your business? Go discuss it in the comment section.

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