From Startup to Wunderbrand - Nicholas Kuhne

In a recent episode of From Startup to Wunderbrand, host Nicholas Kuhne talks to Robin Waite, founder of Fearless Business and author of Take Your Shot, about the practical nuts and bolts of turning a small coaching or freelance business into a scalable, profitable offer. Robin walks through why clarity (who you serve and how), productisation, and value-based pricing beat “shouty” social posting and hourly billing every time, plus how identity and tribe shape the customers you attract.

Nicholas Kuhne, host of From Startup to Wunderbrand, is the founder of the brand consultancy Wunderbrand and a lecturer at Noroff University College in Norway. With over two decades of experience across Africa, Europe and Asia, Nicholas has developed a distinctive approach to guiding multinational businesses through complex and often challenging environments. His career highlights include launching Comedy Central in Africa as head of marketing at MTV, serving as Managing Director of Interbrand in West Africa, and shaping marketing for sectors as diverse as telecoms, banking, and public health. Having started his journey at the iconic Nando’s brand, Nicholas brings both creative flair and strategic insight to his work, making him a trusted voice on brand building in global markets.

What We Discussed on From Startup to Wunderbrand

• Niching is a productivity hack. Narrowing who you serve reduces wasted effort and makes marketing far more efficient; you’ll spend time where your ideal clients actually hang out.
• Three layers of clarity matter. Demographics tell you who, psychographics tell you where and how to reach them, and identity tells you why they’ll choose you.
• Stop shouting into the abyss. Random social posts get likes but not paying customers, your content must be linked to a clear next step in your customer journey.
• Productise to scale. Turn bespoke services into repeatable, systemised offers so every client gets a consistent outcome and you stop trading time for money.
• Price for outcomes, not hours. Charge for the transformation and the value you create; guarantees and outcome-based offers show confidence and reduce buyer friction.
• Design the economics first. Break revenue goals down into per-month, per-day and per-unit numbers to test whether your pricing and capacity are realistic.
• Identity attracts the right clients. Show up as you are, your values and style form a tribe that will refer, stay and evangelise your work.
• Simplify to scale. Boring, repeatable businesses win. Focus on doing one thing exceptionally well rather than a thousand half-finished projects.
• Be proactive in conversion. Don’t assume prospects will guess the next step, lead them by the hand from content to webinar to call to sale.

Why most new businesses struggle

Robin frames the problem as three big shifts: vastly more businesses, fast global internet access and the rise of social media. These make starting a business easier but marketing harder — you’re competing with far more people and a global marketplace that rewards strategic reach, not volume of noise.

Common mistakes he sees:

• Focusing on vanity metrics (likes, comments) instead of conversion metrics (inquiries, booked calls, revenue).
• Using hourly rates that reward time, not impact.
• Confusing activity (posting a lot) with intention (designed customer journeys).

The three layers of niching (and how to use them)

1. Demographics: the obvious details

Industry, role, age bracket, geographic region. Useful for segmentation but insufficient on their own.

2. Psychographics: where they spend time

What podcasts do they listen to? Which Facebook groups, newsletters or conferences do they attend? This layer tells you where to place your content so it’s seen by the right people.

3. Identity: the deepest pull

Values, adventurousness, risk profile, lifestyle. Identity creates tribes. Show your personality (Robin’s “fearless” vibe: surfing, cycling, the slightly edgy tone) and you’ll attract clients who resonate, not everyone will, and that’s fine.

From content to conversion: design the customer journey

Most creators assume people will figure out what to do next. They won’t. Robin recommends mapping a simple, friction-free funnel:

• Free, useful content where your audience already is (e.g., a Facebook community or YouTube).
• A clear next step: sign up for a webinar, download a useful lead magnet, or a short Q&A session.
• A structured offer: productised program or definitive service with a defined outcome.
• Hand-holding from interest to purchase: invitations, follow-ups and calendar bookings that reduce friction.

Make each step obvious and repeatable, your content’s job is to move people one notch closer to a sale, not to do the sales job itself.

Productisation: make your work repeatable

Turning bespoke work into a systemised product means:

• Defining a consistent process every client receives.
• Packaging outcomes (not tasks) into named offers.
• Adding predictable upsells and back-end value so you’re not reliant on raw volume.
  

Example: a dog-groomer who wants $10,000/month can rework a $50 single groom into a $125 packaged experience with upsells and membership options, reducing capacity pressure and improving referrals.

Pricing: why hourly rates are a trap

Robin gives three web designer archetypes to illustrate pricing logic:

• The inexperienced hourly biller who ends up reselling extra hours and frustrating clients.
• The competent hourly worker who delivers more value faster yet still gets paid the same as the novice.
• The outcome-focused expert who charges for results and thus captures much more of the value they create.

Principles to price by:

• Price for outcomes, not time. If you can deliver measurable client outcomes (more leads, revenue, fewer headaches), charge for that transformation.
• Use guarantees where appropriate, offering refunds or performance-backed promises signals confidence and reduces buyer risk.
• Design offers to balance price, capacity and perceived value so you don’t trade hours for revenue indefinitely.

Practical checklist: turn this episode into action (quick wins)

• Map your three-layer niche: write one sentence each for demographics, psychographics and identity.
• Pick one audience hangout (one Facebook group, one podcast, one offline meet). Plan a single high-value event there.
• Productise one service: write the name, the 3-step process clients go through, and the measurable outcome.
• Recalculate your pricing vs capacity: what would be a fair price that meets your income goals without burning you out?
• Create a clear next step on every piece of content (watch, download, sign up, book a call).

Examples & mini case studies (from the episode)

• Web designers: Move from hourly estimates to guarantee-backed, outcome-focused landing funnel packages that are priced according to the value of leads produced.
• Dog groomers: Combine premium grooming with add-ons and memberships to raise average transaction value and referral quality.
• Coaches: Package group coaching programs (productisation) to scale beyond 1:1 work and make outcomes repeatable.

Mindset & identity: the often-ignored marketing lever

Robin stresses: don’t try to be a clone of competitors. Showing your real identity attracts the right people and repels the rest, which is good. Playing a role you don’t enjoy (for ego or perceived professional image) makes consistent marketing impossible. Choose authenticity over “generic professional” every time.

Where to go next

Robin posts videos on YouTube and has signed copies of Take Your Shot available at fearless.is/t ys (Robin’s special signings and shipping notes were mentioned in the episode). For entrepreneurs stuck in the trap of “busy but not profitable,” start by mapping your customer journey and testing a productised offer with a clear outcome.

Conclusion

The episode is a crisp reminder that marketing isn’t about shouting louder — it’s about being clearer. Clarity in who you serve, how you reach them and the unique identity you bring will always beat frantic activity. Productise your work, price on value not time, and build funnels where each piece of content has one simple, obvious next step. Do those things and you stop trading hours for income and start building a business that scales.