Product and services examples are descriptions of your company's offerings, and can be adapted to accommodate the audience you're trying to attract and to help you reach goals you're pursuing. When described using your own terminology, your descriptions show how you view your company's customers and stakeholders. Focus on what you want your target audience to get from your product descriptions in order to get started on the creation phase.

Starting With the Business Plan

A description of your company's products and services goes in your business plan. This section of the plan shares information that includes a brief summary of each offering, facts about the cost of each unit, and data about any patents or copyrights you possess related to your product offerings. It's important to be able to clearly tell people about the products and services your business offers.

Keep Your Language Positive

You shouldn't assume people know a lot about your industry, even if you're in a popular field, and it's especially important to remember this when preparing product descriptions. Each industry includes many products and services that are uncommon. Avoid talking down to people, but keep industry terminology to a minimum to avoid sounding condescending when communicating with industry outsiders. Ask yourself or a peer if your product descriptions:

  • Seem too technical
  • Assume readers have an advanced knowledge about your industry
  • Use too much industry terminology
  • Describe the main purpose and benefit of the service or product

Also consider whether you are providing a point of reference people can use for comparison if it is new in the marketplace.

Clear and Concise

Consider asking other people to read and share their opinions on your product descriptions. This is one of the best ways to get feedback on your written descriptions, and it lets you see if people understand what you're saying well enough to repeat it back in their own words. Using layman's terms in your descriptions helps potential investors get a feel for your industry and where your company fits in it, even if they are otherwise unfamiliar with it.

Stakeholder Involvement

A clearly written business plan should be shared with key stakeholders. When you share this key planning document with employees, a well-written product and service description section helps everyone understand the purpose of your company.

While you wouldn't share your business plan with customers, they should see your product and service descriptions. When writing descriptions for customers to read, go beyond listing the features of your products and show them what benefits those features deliver to encourage them to buy from you.

Targeting Specific Market Segments

Segmenting your audience into smaller groups can help you improve product descriptions even more by focusing on specific needs of the segment. This approach does generate extra work for you, but it also makes your descriptions more effective by addressing the interests of the group. For things like clothing, you may want to focus on style, durability, or comfort depending on the needs and interests of the target market you're trying to reach.

Descriptions for Raising Capital

Bankers and investors want to know how much earning capability your products and services deliver when they review your business plan. The description of your products and service offering helps them determine if you'll be likely to earn a profit and repay your loans. Discuss your business model and the effect of each product or service on your net income. Include labor costs, material costs and how much you'll charge for each product or service. Also share information on your intended market, go in-depth on your earning potential, and cover specifications regarding proprietary processes you own.

Descriptions When Collaborating With Other Businesses

If you want to partner with another business, good descriptions of your offerings can help encourage them to join forces with you. You may also need accurate descriptions to entice retailers to purchase your wholesale offerings. Be sure to include the most useful features of your product or service, and add information about your return policy or how long someone can expect your offerings to last, especially if you're producing something perishable.

If you need help with examples of products and services, you can post your legal need on UpCounsel's marketplace. UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.