The Art of Value-Creation, Rinsing and Repeating

Who said you can’t learn anything from watching television? Well obviously that was indeed a rather sweeping statement someone made in order to arouse interest and bring attention to a certain topic they wanted to discuss, but for the most part it pretty much just depends on what exactly it is you’d be watching on TV. In focus today is a show which airs on the Travel Channel, House Hunters International and this particular show, which is extremely addictive, provides us with one of the most valuable lessons anyone could ever learn in business.

Of course we’re talking about value creation, specifically the kind of value which can be created and monetized over and over and over again! House Hunters International is perhaps the ultimate example of how to create value and then rinse and repeat, along what appears to be an exponential growth path.

Mastering the format

The best business models are those which run on a simple format-template which although very easy to see, it doesn’t seem to be something which a competitor can copy and perhaps out-scale the pioneer with. I mean there are many other house-hunting shows that have since popped up after House Hunters International, which of course is not to say that House Hunters International itself is indeed the pioneering show of that kind, but House Hunters International appears to have won the popularity race.

The simplicity of the format cannot be emphasised enough, so much so that it can definitely be copied by anyone who has the will and production budget to do so. It’s very simple – people who are interested in being on the show basically provide the content with their presence, writing in to be featured and filmed hunting for a place to live in a foreign country.

The format followed has them leaving their current home and providing some background as to why they’re going ahead with the decision to do so, then they link up with a real estate agent in their destination country and go through three property options which are supposedly selected by the real estate agent. What gives the show value which will probably never be short on creativity or freshness is everything to do with the dynamics around the property search and move.

It’s a show which is on a travel niche channel, so many of the momentarily featured travel aspects perhaps make the whole show, like how viewers might delight in witnessing a shot of the movers sailing on a catamaran in Greece as a suggestion of what awaits them as far as the lifestyle elements of their move to that part of the world.

Now of course when we talk about the business side of things, it’s all about monetization through the advertising which airs alongside the show itself. The important part of the equation, however, is how addictive this show is, with each new episode ensuring that it will never get boring. This is where the rinsing and repeating takes place to deliver the ultimate lesson in value creation and scaling.