What do you do if your entrepreneurial venture lacks a clear target customer base?

If your product lacks a clear customer base - that is my superpower! We work on conducting industry interviews to identify pain points that are not currently being addressed by other competitors and then work to develop a Unique Value Proposition to those Market segments/Personas.

By monitoring industry trends, analyzing competitors, and gathering feedback from potential customers through surveys or social media, you gain insights into market gaps. Position your venture to fill these gaps by aligning your offering with specific customer needs. This process helps define your target customer base more clearly.

Muito cuidado para não inverter a ordem. O olhar deve começar sempre pelo entendimento dos clientes e potenciais clientes e depois para o produto que você oferece. Existem diversas soluções no mercado que já não deveriam mais existir, pois surgiram novas opções que resolvem o problema do cliente de forma mais eficiente, mais fácil ou eventualmente mais econômica. Depois de identificar os reais problemas a serem resolvidos podemos avaliar a melhor solução a ser ofertada.

The root problem of any failed venture is fault in demand analysis, thereby creating unwanted products and services, hence a robust and dynamic MIS is need of the day. This will map the demand in the market and thereby suggest possible product options to be developed. This demand can further be mapped with the strength of specific entrepreneur and suggest a go or no go for specific business idea in a specific geography. This may well be possible that a product is very well required in one geography and not at all required in other geography. The other way is to create a demand where no demand is there.. this is a long drawn process and needs big pockets to sustain initial losses. Demand creation can be a very expensive preposition.

If it’s harder to narrow down the ideal customer profile - you can always start with a customer cohort and slowly narrow it down. Example - You build a bookkeeping software for businesses but you don’t know yet which industries would adopt them well. You can pick a few different industries but keep the stage of business same to make a cohort. Such tests with speed can help you narrow down your ICP

Brian Chesky from Airbnb resonates with me - "Focus on 100 people that love you, rather than getting a million people to kind of like you". The hard part is the 100 - and whether the offering is something that resonates - and how you find the 100! In my podcast interviews the founders tell you that you just have to keep going and keep moving until you find them... easier said than done - but some successful people found their 100 and then their million!!

The market is dynamic and customer needs can evolve quickly. If your initial approach isn't generating interest, a pivot strategy allows you to strategically adjust according to the demand. Gather detailed customer feedback and analyze them for improvement in specific areas. Often, a targeted adjustment to your product, service, or target audience can unlock a new market segment.

If your current offering lacks resonance, consider pivoting your strategy. Analyze feedback to understand why your product isn't appealing and make adjustments. Sometimes, a small tweak can attract a new customer segment. Pivoting doesn't mean starting over; it's about adapting to market needs, finding where your value proposition meets demand.

Não comece resolvendo um problema extraordinário. Busque inicialmente resolver um problema ordinário extremamente bem. Pode ser que para isso você precise fazer adequações na solução ou de mercado. Aquilo que é ofertado precisa ser relevante para as pessoas e empresas para fazer sentido a sua existência.

Em tempos dinâmicos, a habilidade de sentir o mercado e pivotar é questão de sobrevivência. Ouça o seu público para entender suas necessidades. Às vezes, com pequenos ajustes, seu portfolio pode se tornar bem mais desejável para seu cliente e diferenciá-lo dos concorrentes.

Consider going beyond traditional demographics and surface-level characteristics when constructing customer personas. Dive deeper into their psychographic traits, such as values, beliefs, aspirations, and challenges they face. Understanding the emotional drivers behind their decisions can provide invaluable insights into how to connect with them on a deeper level. Additionally, consider incorporating real-life anecdotes or quotes from interviews with actual customers to humanize these personas and make them more relatable. By painting a vivid picture of your target audience's needs, desires, and pain points, you can craft marketing messages and strategies that resonate authentically and drive meaningful engagement.

Create detailed customer personas representing ideal users of your product or service. Include demographics, interests, behaviors, and pain points. Visualize your target audience and tailor marketing efforts accordingly. Well-crafted personas enhance communication with potential customers interested in your offerings.

Faz muito sentido fazer o desenho das personas, perfil de pessoas que tem maior aderência ao seu produto ou serviço, mas cuidado. No início do seu negócio, não perca tanto tempo se prendendo a um único perfil. Esteja em movimento testando adequações do produto, do público, na precificação e aos poucos vai tendo mais clareza sobre o perfil ideal de cliente, de forma que faça com que o seu negócio pare de pé, seja lucrativo e gere valor às pessoas.

To create a profile (persona), you should start by defining the problem that your product or service will solve and define who shares this problem. For example, if you're creating an AI-based restaurant recommendation app that uses cryptocurrencies, your target audience might be something like a "24–30-year-old male who is online making over $75K per year and living in an urban environment." Analyze each market segment in detail and base your analysis on a few key elements: The number of potential customers in the segment Their willingness to buy your solution The level of difficulty they are experiencing Their capacity to afford your solution Their ease of accessibility Their potential to spread the word to others like them

Customer personas are like putting a face and personality to the abstract notion of a target market. By getting detailed about demographics, interests, and especially pain points, you start visualizing the person you want to reach. This clarity makes everything from your website copy to your social media posts more focused. Personas help you avoid the trap of trying to be everything to everyone, which usually ends up being nothing to anyone. This focused approach increases the chances of your message resonating with the right people, leading to higher engagement and conversions.

Getting the PMF ( Product Market Fit) is one of the crucial KPI in an early stage start up . Entrepreneurs and Techpreneurs get so engrossed in perfecting their products that they forget about how well the customers would react to the product and how much value would they ascribe to it. So before spending tons of money on developing the product , the Founder needs to get the MVP up and running and validate his assumptions about market adoption . In this process if he finds that he is starting to get organic traction and positive Word of Mouth and strong referrals he should start building the product further . But Validation is key . That’s topmost priority . If he can’t validate he should pivot and keep pivoting till he gets his PMF right.

Votre produit doit venir d’un cahier des charges validé par les besoins des clients et du terrain. 👉 Restez concentré sur les clients pendant le développement du produit : -Testez votre produit directement auprès de votre cible et récoltez des feedbacks -Passez 1/3 de votre temps à échanger avec vos clients. -Itérez et améliorez votre produit en fonction des retours que vous obtenez.

Before fully committing to a target customer base, validate assumptions. Develop a minimum viable product (MVP) and gather feedback from potential customers. This approach tests the market's response without heavy investment. If the MVP resonates, it signals alignment and allows further refinement of the target customer base.

Traduzindo, faça testes. Tenha menos certeza das coisas e busque aprender rápido com os testes realizados. Existem diversas variáveis que precisam ser avaliadas, como produto, dor dos clientes, localização, logística, compras, embalagem, proposta de valor, entre outras. Quando você se coloca em movimento, fazendo uma análise crítica das evoluções, vai descobrindo aos poucos os pontos que são fundamentais para o desenvolvimento adequado do negócio.

Validating the market, personally it’s where I would start. If the market isn’t there the best in the world aren’t going to succeed. Conversely, those operating in a “starving market” situation seem to do no wrong as they dominate. Think of a the only hot dog vendor at a ball game. Marketing, price, sales skills, none of this matters thanks to the crowd of hungry people at the game with no other options. Alex Hormozi lays out the order of importance brilliantly .. “A starving crowd is more important than offer strength, which is more important than persuasion skills”. If you haven’t heard of Alex, look him up, it will be time well invested.

Going to industry conferences and sitting back truly listen to the discussion has been quite insightful. The content speaks to trends but the questions from the audience provides their nuggets that are most valuable.

Negócios são sobre pessoas. A arte de interpretar comportamentos, reações e necessidades fará com que você consiga compreender cada vez mais as oportunidades do mercado. Para isso, participar de eventos, manter um canal aberto de comunicação nas mídias sociais, ter momentos de conversas 1 a 1 ajudarão a criar uma rede de relacionamentos relevante, criando uma relação de confiança e credibilidade, fundamentais para a oferta de qualquer solução.

Join forums related to your product category, read through posts to understand the sentiment and identify gaps, problems, jobs to be done. Ask thoughtful questions with an open mind. Offer free product in exchange for interviews with potential customers, use ChatGPT to inspire a list of interview questions around your product / niche to help you better understand your target customer.

Engage potential customers via social media, community events, or content marketing. Building relationships yields insights into preferences and behaviors. Refine understanding of target customers and their desires. Engagement fosters brand loyalty, vital for long-term success.

Make sure your brand had visibility to your customers and also to customers who think they don't need your solution. Potential clients follow well branded products

Continuously optimize offerings based on customer feedback and market trends. Maintain open communication with customers, encouraging them to share experiences. Use insights for iterative improvements, ensuring relevance and appeal. Adaptability and customer-focus are vital for defining and maintaining a clear customer base in entrepreneurship.

It depends in your venture’s stage. If you’re ready to scale and go beyond founder led sales, you need a product market fit. At a minimum it should include a clear view both of the need and the customers you serve, competition (including doing nothing), and how you will reach these customers, deliver value, and capture some of it. In B2B, personas really help as your customers are likely organisations with several decision makers and users interacting with each other. If you’re very early stage, however, it’s ok to be sales-led. The first customer’s solution will effectively be your product, paid all or in part by the customer. After 2-4 sales, you should be able to shape something modular or replicable that you can go to market with.

The final step of continuous optimization based on customer feedback ensures the venture stays relevant. It emphasizes the importance of an iterative approach.

One method we have used has been to utilize Google ads as a way of testing the waters. Advertise based on the keywords, locations, and offerings and then see do people click do they respond etc. etc.. You can do the same thing on Facebook, where you have the ability to target very specifically specific audiences with specific offers and just get a sense of whether people are interested before you go and design a strategy around a particular offering.

Staying adaptable and customer-focused is key to defining and maintaining a clear customer base for your entrepreneurial venture. eep an open line of communication with your customers and encourage them to share their experiences with your product or service.

A clear understanding of your target audience is one of the most important tasks of an entrepreneur and business in general. Without understanding the ICP, you will not be able to prepare an accurate offer. You will find it difficult to use marketing effectively. Your product/service may be losing out to competitors because you do not clearly understand your customer and do not solve their problems/challenges. There are a large number of models and approaches that help you understand your client. Try the approaches that are offered to you in business modeling or strategic marketing until you find an approach that is convenient for you.

If your venture lacks a clear customer base, start with market research to identify potential customers. Use surveys and interviews to learn consumer needs. Analyse competitors to uncover market opportunities.Develop customer personas that detail demographic info, motivations, and pain points. This helps tailor your marketing to these groups.Test different marketing strategies and refine your product based on feedback. Be ready to adjust your approach or product features to better meet market demands. Flexibility can be key in securing a solid market position.

Product-market fit (PMF) is crucial for distinguishing thriving businesses from failing ones. It's a continuous process that requires repeating, especially when new products are introduced. To validate PMF, companies can use "heat-testing" to test consumer reactions to online ads. Embracing agile methods increases success rates, improves quality, and speed to market, and boosts team motivation and productivity.

Addressing a lack of clear target customers involves comprehensive market research to identify customer segments and pain points. Develop detailed buyer personas, experiment with messaging and product features, and focus on early adopters for feedback. Engage with the audience through various channels, monitor key metrics and adapt strategies accordingly. Seek guidance from mentors or experts for effective targeting.

Honestly, if you don’t have a clear target customer, stop everything right now. That’s right, halt all development as the nature of “building a solution in search of a problem” is an all-hands situation. Revert to first principles thinking about your existing solution and back into who that customer might be. What is the fastest, cheapest, and clearest way to support or refute each of these proposed hypotheses regarding customer need? Notably, you don’t always need to use engineering cycles to test things when an ad campaign or a market analog can give a directional answer. Get crisp and fast about your desired strategy, steal one in the meantime if necessary to get aligned. Land and expand? Commoditize the complement? Subsidized value?