NB:This may not be a word-for-word transcript.

　　Creating Simple, One-Sentence Product Descriptions (II)

　　If entrepreneurs can think about and describe the general function of a product, they can also begin to answer these three questions.

　　First, who needs what the product can do? This question, helps entrepreneurs think about the target market, more clearly.

　　Second, what other products can do the same thing as this new product? This question helps entrepreneurs think about competitors.

　　Third, who produces or sells products that may be related to this new product, and therefore, may be interested in supporting the new business either financially or operationally? This question helps entrepreneurs think about where he or she might find investors.

　　Let’s use Drybath as an example. What does Drybath help people do? Be clean. Who needs Drybath? People who live in dry places. What other products can do the same thing as Drybath? Soaps and shampoos, but they also require water. Who produces or sells products that may be related to Drybath, and therefore, may be interested in supporting the new business, either financially or operationally? Soap and shampoo companies.

　　Now, let’s do a quick grammar review of how to describe the general function of a product. The grammatical structure is a present tense verb and a complement which is a direct or indirect object, a prepositional phrase, or adverbial phrase. Here are some examples. For paperclips, the general function is, hold papers. This is a verb, and a direct object. For a taxi service, the general function is, move from place to place. This is a verb and two prepositional phrases. For dry bath, the general function is, get clean. This is a verb and an adverb.

　　Most products have one general function. But some hybrid products may have two. Social impact products like Dry Bath are an example of this. So the Dry Bath product description includes the orange part of this sample structure. What does Drybath help people do? Drybath helps people get clean and save water. When a product has more than one function, entrepreneurs should ask the three questions for each function.

　　Let’s use a comprehension check to work through the three questions for ‘save water’, just like we did for ‘get clean’.

　　Writing simple, one sentence product descriptions is not difficult, but it takes a lot of practice and careful word choice.