Analyze the Product Mix Just Like a Bowl of Nuts

While at a party I found myself next to an intriguing bowl of delicious mixed nuts – cashews, walnuts, peanuts, and pistachios. As long as I can remember, I have been addicted to those tasty morsels yet they conflict with my dietary goal, so I grabbed a handful and moved away quickly while congratulating myself on my discipline. My favorites are the cashews and pistachios. The next time I looked at that bowl I estimated that about 40% of the nuts were cashews and 5% pistachios so, in the interest of scientific inquiry, I grabbed another handful and moved away quickly. Instead of ingesting the whole handful at once, this time I opened my hand, counted and found my estimate was correct and then ate them all (after all I had touched them).

Since business issues are always on my mind I started thinking about the concept of “product mix” and wondered how the nut company developed their formula for putting the most attractive mixture together to entice prospects yet balancing the cost of the various varieties to create a profitable product. This, of course, led me to think about the product mix in a business.