The Personal MBA

Master the Art of Business

A world-class business education in a single volume. Learn the universal principles behind every successful business, then use these ideas to make more money, get more done, and have more fun in your life and work.

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What Is 'Bundling and Unbundling'?

Bundling means repurposing value that you already created to create even more value by combining multiple small offers into one large offer. The more offers contained in a bundle, the higher the Perceived Value of the bundle will be.

Unbundling is the opposite of bundling, it means splitting an offer into multiple smaller offers.

Bundling and unbundling help create value for different customers without having to create something new.

Josh Kaufman Explains 'Bundling and Unbundling'

The benefit of making your offers small and modular is that it allows you to take advantage of a strategy called bundling. Bundling allows you to repurpose value that you have already created to create even more value.

Bundling occurs when you combine multiple smaller offers into a single large offer. An example of bundling is the mobile phone industry, where a mobile phone (a physical product) is bundled with a monthly service plan (a subscription) for a single price. Similarly, buy-one-get-one-free offers at the grocery store are a form of bundling.

Typically, the more offers contained in the bundle, the higher the Perceived Value of the offer, and the more the business can charge. That's why mobile phone providers add things like more minutes, unlimited text messaging, and Internet service onto the basic service plan. The more benefits provided, the more a customer is typically willing to pay on a monthly basis for the entire package.

Unbundling is the opposite of bundling: it's taking one offer and splitting it up into multiple offers. A good example of unbundling is selling MP3 downloads of a single album instead of the CD. Customers may not be willing to pay $10 for an entire album, but they may be willing to pay a dollar or two for the songs they particularly like. Unbundling the album into individual units opens the way to sales that wouldn't otherwise happen.

Bundling and unbundling can help you create value for different types of customers without requiring the creation of something new. By combining offers and forms in various configurations, you can offer your customers exactly what they want.

Questions About 'Bundling and Unbundling'


"A bit of this and a bit of that is how newness enters the world."

Salman Rushdie, novelist


From Chapter 1:

Value Creation


https://personalmba.com/bundling-unbundling/



The Personal MBA

Master the Art of Business

A world-class business education in a single volume. Learn the universal principles behind every successful business, then use these ideas to make more money, get more done, and have more fun in your life and work.

Buy the book:


About Josh Kaufman

Josh Kaufman is an acclaimed business, learning, and skill acquisition expert. He is the author of two international bestsellers: The Personal MBA and The First 20 Hours. Josh's research and writing have helped millions of people worldwide learn the fundamentals of modern business.

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