If what you sell is “shoveling,” you will always be on the hook to dig.

If you sell “shoveling,” either you do the shoveling, or someone on your team does the shoveling, or you contract out or outsource the shoveling.

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Shovelers...

Get tired.

Or get sick.

Or lean on their shovel.

Or not know where to dig next, and stand there, waiting to be told.

Or they’ll shovel in the wrong place. So you’ll need to review the quality of the shoveling. And fix it yourself, or tell them how to fix it.

Or they’ll change their mind, about the “kind of shoveling” they want to do on your team.

Or they’ll leave, quit, or get scooped up by a crew that pays better.

If you sell “shoveling,” you’ll be on the hook for making sure the shoveling gets done, and gets done well.

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If you sell “a hole,” there are plenty of ways to ensure the hole your buyer wants gets created.

Moreover, if you sell “hole advice,” and help your buyer understand what kind of hole they actually need because really they don’t know (square corners? round at the bottom? skinny, for a well?)

suddenly you have options:

• advise on orientation and location (want sun for a garden? want to be out of the flood zone?)

• advise on space and dimensions (deep for a foundation, or shallow for flower beds?)

• advise on pitfalls (gas and power lines, bedrock, sand, clay, where will you pile the dirt?)

• advise on timing (do it before the ground freezes, wait until the ground thaws, or before the rain comes, or wait until you’re ready to pour the concrete)

and you can offer ways to get the hole dug:

• offer to bring in your excavator ($100K)

• bring in your team to do the digging with shovels ($50K)

• show your buyer where they get can their own excavator and teach them how to use it ($10K)

• show your buyer where they can find their own team to do the digging and get their own shovels ($5K)

Lots of options.

But one thing is for sure.

If you sell “shoveling,” you will be on the hook to dig.

Digging is tiring.

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Be wary of selling “accounting.”