Everyone wants to be able to not just charge the luxury price, but actually reliably bank the luxury price, customer after customer, week in, week out, with no complaints or refunds, but without offering the luxury experience.
'Luxury' doesn't have to be unique, exclusive, or out-of-this-world 'special'; what makes something a luxury experience, and has people choosing it without thinking about it, even when a very similar experience is available from a nearby business charging 50% or more less than the luxury item is that luxury = zero friction.
The experience of minimal friction is why people will pay half a week's groceries cost to have a single meal delivered to them; for those people, the friction of identifying the meal you want to eat, pulling out/buying the ingredients, prepping and cooking them, and cleaning up afterwards is more friction than they can handle at that moment; in contrast, putting in an order and waiting for it to arrive is very low friction.
Zero friction means not only your needs, but your wants, are anticipated without you having to express them.
Zero friction means that the experience is something that feels so naturally part of your everyday life that you don't really process it as something you had to go to, had to do, had to arrange, etc - it "just happens."
Zero friction brings a sense of satisfaction - whether that's joy, accomplishment, confidence, or whatever 'satisfaction' means for you. You feel rested and at peace during, or in the wake of, the experience - which is why shopping at Tesco (other stores are available) is not luxury, but having a personal shopper go to a high-end gourmet market on your behalf (at a payment to the personal shopper to cover their time and travel to and from the market) is. It's why hiring a personal chef is more of a luxury experience than going out to a restaurant - but, for someone who genuinely enjoys cooking and working with food, cooking for themselves may feel more luxurious than the private chef.
Everyone has a different level of tolerance for friction; some people are very used to living high friction lives, and therefore aren't too bothered if dinner, a haircut, or shopping brings its own friction. Other people have relatively low friction lives, and therefore any additional friction feels like something it is actually impossible for them to deal with; this is often the issue for younger people on social media who are not working or studying, and either still living with their parents, or are supported by a spouse who is in a relatively well-paid job, especially when those young people don't have significant-impact physical health issues; they may have some friction in their lives, but it really isn't very much, and therefore the slight increase in friction that writing a cover letter, or meal prepping, brings feels like a physical assault, while their parents or partners barely notice that additional friction, because their lives have a significant level of friction already.
What contributes to friction levels in daily life?
. Work, including underemployment, unsuited employment, and too much employment
. Unemployment
. Poverty and financial hardship that isn't quite poverty
. Kinship care
. Disability
. Mental illness
. Homelessness, and unsuited housing
. Dependence on carers or abusers
'Luxury' doesn't have to be unique, exclusive, or out-of-this-world 'special'; what makes something a luxury experience, and has people choosing it without thinking about it, even when a very similar experience is available from a nearby business charging 50% or more less than the luxury item is that luxury = zero friction.
The experience of minimal friction is why people will pay half a week's groceries cost to have a single meal delivered to them; for those people, the friction of identifying the meal you want to eat, pulling out/buying the ingredients, prepping and cooking them, and cleaning up afterwards is more friction than they can handle at that moment; in contrast, putting in an order and waiting for it to arrive is very low friction.
Zero friction means not only your needs, but your wants, are anticipated without you having to express them.
Zero friction means that the experience is something that feels so naturally part of your everyday life that you don't really process it as something you had to go to, had to do, had to arrange, etc - it "just happens."
Zero friction brings a sense of satisfaction - whether that's joy, accomplishment, confidence, or whatever 'satisfaction' means for you. You feel rested and at peace during, or in the wake of, the experience - which is why shopping at Tesco (other stores are available) is not luxury, but having a personal shopper go to a high-end gourmet market on your behalf (at a payment to the personal shopper to cover their time and travel to and from the market) is. It's why hiring a personal chef is more of a luxury experience than going out to a restaurant - but, for someone who genuinely enjoys cooking and working with food, cooking for themselves may feel more luxurious than the private chef.
Everyone has a different level of tolerance for friction; some people are very used to living high friction lives, and therefore aren't too bothered if dinner, a haircut, or shopping brings its own friction. Other people have relatively low friction lives, and therefore any additional friction feels like something it is actually impossible for them to deal with; this is often the issue for younger people on social media who are not working or studying, and either still living with their parents, or are supported by a spouse who is in a relatively well-paid job, especially when those young people don't have significant-impact physical health issues; they may have some friction in their lives, but it really isn't very much, and therefore the slight increase in friction that writing a cover letter, or meal prepping, brings feels like a physical assault, while their parents or partners barely notice that additional friction, because their lives have a significant level of friction already.
What contributes to friction levels in daily life?
. Work, including underemployment, unsuited employment, and too much employment
. Unemployment
. Poverty and financial hardship that isn't quite poverty
. Kinship care
. Disability
. Mental illness
. Homelessness, and unsuited housing
. Dependence on carers or abusers
. Lack of access to private transport
. Long trips to get essentials
. Waiting times
. Lack of access to appropriate nutrition
. Domestic labour
. Interpersonal conflict
. Bereavement
And yes - some people have to deal with every single one of these sources of friction every single day, which means that, yes, sometimes, they will take the lowest-friction option they can afford. Judging them for that, whilst being completely chill with people with low-friction lives going for the zero-friction luxury options as a literal default, is a problem; too much friction burns people out.
Equally, however, too little friction results in inertia. You can't move forward. A lot of what we call boredom is actually inertia, and the solution for it is to bring in small amounts of good friction:
. Gardening
. Caring for pets
. Volunteering
. Back-to-basics travelling
. Repairing things rather than replacing them
. A course of study
Run a friction assessment on your life: is there too much friction, or not enough? What forms of friction can you add? What forms do you need to remove?
If you're a business whose key sources of friction are low revenue and actually getting customers through the door? How can you offer a genuinely luxury experience? What can you do that completely removes friction for people? There's a reason why home care businesses, cleaning companies, and bare-bones gardening firms consistently make bank while sellers of 3D printed dragon toys, AI art, "vintage" cookware, upcycled furniture, and bath bombs struggle; the latter businesses aren't really removing any friction; the former businesses are not just removing sources of friction, but also solving real problems for people. No one has ever experienced stress because they had to take a bath without a powdery ball of scented dust, or because they had to cook a meal in a saucepan, rather than a vintage Le Creuset casserole dish. Many people are experiencing unmanageable levels of stress trying to balance full time work with caring for disabled family members, or finding time to do a deep clean of their house, or get their lawn and borders under control.
Solving problems gives you a sustainable business.
Solving problems whilst removing all friction gives you a luxury business.
Supermarkets solve the problem of "Where do I get food?", whilst removing a lot of the friction that has historically accompanied the task of 'getting food' (and which still does accompany 'getting food' for many people in exploited nations.)
Personal shoppers solve the problem of "Where do I get anything? - food, clothes, gifts" - whilst removing the friction of having to travel to shops, look for the things you need/want, and then get them home.
A butler solves not only the problem of "Where do I get -?", but also the problem of putting them away, keeping track of how much of various foodstuffs has been used, choosing appropriate outfits, ensuring the individual pieces of clothing in those outfits are clean, ironed, and in good repair, doing laundry, putting away the laundered clothes, wrapping the gifts, writing the gift labels, arranging for the gifts to be delivered, but removes all elements of friction.
. Long trips to get essentials
. Waiting times
. Lack of access to appropriate nutrition
. Domestic labour
. Interpersonal conflict
. Bereavement
And yes - some people have to deal with every single one of these sources of friction every single day, which means that, yes, sometimes, they will take the lowest-friction option they can afford. Judging them for that, whilst being completely chill with people with low-friction lives going for the zero-friction luxury options as a literal default, is a problem; too much friction burns people out.
Equally, however, too little friction results in inertia. You can't move forward. A lot of what we call boredom is actually inertia, and the solution for it is to bring in small amounts of good friction:
. Gardening
. Caring for pets
. Volunteering
. Back-to-basics travelling
. Repairing things rather than replacing them
. A course of study
Run a friction assessment on your life: is there too much friction, or not enough? What forms of friction can you add? What forms do you need to remove?
If you're a business whose key sources of friction are low revenue and actually getting customers through the door? How can you offer a genuinely luxury experience? What can you do that completely removes friction for people? There's a reason why home care businesses, cleaning companies, and bare-bones gardening firms consistently make bank while sellers of 3D printed dragon toys, AI art, "vintage" cookware, upcycled furniture, and bath bombs struggle; the latter businesses aren't really removing any friction; the former businesses are not just removing sources of friction, but also solving real problems for people. No one has ever experienced stress because they had to take a bath without a powdery ball of scented dust, or because they had to cook a meal in a saucepan, rather than a vintage Le Creuset casserole dish. Many people are experiencing unmanageable levels of stress trying to balance full time work with caring for disabled family members, or finding time to do a deep clean of their house, or get their lawn and borders under control.
Solving problems gives you a sustainable business.
Solving problems whilst removing all friction gives you a luxury business.
Supermarkets solve the problem of "Where do I get food?", whilst removing a lot of the friction that has historically accompanied the task of 'getting food' (and which still does accompany 'getting food' for many people in exploited nations.)
Personal shoppers solve the problem of "Where do I get anything? - food, clothes, gifts" - whilst removing the friction of having to travel to shops, look for the things you need/want, and then get them home.
A butler solves not only the problem of "Where do I get -?", but also the problem of putting them away, keeping track of how much of various foodstuffs has been used, choosing appropriate outfits, ensuring the individual pieces of clothing in those outfits are clean, ironed, and in good repair, doing laundry, putting away the laundered clothes, wrapping the gifts, writing the gift labels, arranging for the gifts to be delivered, but removes all elements of friction.
What business level will you be running?
What business do you need?
What business do you need?
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