Concept
The convergence
The convergence is Chris Guillebeau's name for the overlap of what you can do, what you enjoy and what other people will pay for. Passion nobody pays for is a hobby; a market you hate serving is a job; a business sits where all three meet.
Guillebeau's 1,500 founders were not united by passion or by market analysis but by the overlap. The third circle, what people will pay for, is the one first-time owners skip, because what they can do and what they enjoy are visible to them and the paying version of the skill has to be found. It is usually narrower and stranger than the skill: people do not pay for translation, they pay for a contract back by Monday; they do not pay for bread, they pay for the Saturday loaf their family expects. The work of the convergence is to name the outcome the customer gets and price that, and to be honest in the first circle about what you can do well now rather than what you plan to learn.
A real-life example
A physiotherapist in Antalya can treat back pain and enjoys patients who do the exercises. What people will pay for, once he asks, is an appointment this week and a plan they can do at home. His business is same-week appointments for desk workers, priced per course.
How to use it
- 1Draw the three circles and be honest in each; the overlap is smaller than the skill.
- 2Name the outcome the customer gets, not the service you provide.
- 3Start on existing skill; learn after the first customer.