Whenever you have even an inch of an idea about starting a business, the foremost thought is to decide the audience that’d be targeted and approached. It’s simple logic; your business runs because of people, people that could or would sometime be interested to look into your product or service one day or the other.
So, the better you understand your audience, the better it is for your business. And it’s something that everybody knows. Still, newbies into the field are finding it hard to hit the right nice audience. For them, it’s more like a meander that tricks them every now and then into it, not letting them see signs of light at the end of the tunnel.
The market undoubtedly looks enormous when you give birth to an idea, you see plenty of fishes in the sea, though not all may come to you. Moreover, there could possibly be no market for your product at all. So, it’s better to introspect and ask yourself these questions to get a better sight of your business’s market –
Is my product worth being marketed?
Ask yourself, what your product can do that people can’t. Does your product help people do things easily? Or does it itself do the stuff? Now, why would you put this question across? There’s a reason –
People did not buy knife to slice bread, but they definitely moved to buy an already sliced bread. Similarly, people didn’t jump to Twitter unless it gave them a unique social communication platform. Remember, people do not want to do things, they want to be fed. They just want things to happen.
Do I assume my audience based on my experience and field knowledge?
You may, but then be ready to face the music later. Rather than assuming, get a reality check by putting a step forward and interacting with a group of prospects. This interaction may be direct or indirect, whichever way it is, can reap fruits.
Conducting a survey, over the Internet or locally, helps you understand people’s needs and further gets you on the right track into developing a product that would actually do stuff itself.
Who bought it already?
If someone already bought your product before you even launched it completely, it’s a great feeling. Now, find out who put their money on you. Knowing their demographics can lead you understand the kind of people that are or may be interested in your product.
How would I market my product?
This question could be confusing especially when you don’t have prior marketing expertise. But, let’s not discuss the technique here, the thing is how would you do it? Will you have a website or a physical store. For example, an online business will have a wider reach, whereas a brick and mortar business may only be targeted to the local area and wouldn’t necessarily have to go online. So, it’s totally your call.
Do I have a competitor? How did they start?
Having familiar with a competitor’s way to look at things and positioning their product can help you derive a better way out. But hey ! You don’t really do the ditto. Observing things and then trying to differentiate can have a better impact on the audience, although services could be more or less similar. Be creative !
Remember, your competition thought about the idea much before you did. So, there’s no way you could think of copying their strategy. It might backfire.
Is my target audience limited?
Over the time, you may redefine your target audience. Check, if you’re targeting domestic or international market. For instance, in the initial years, you may deal only with a local market, but as time progresses, the demand may flock down to the international market as well. That’s when your target audience expands and you see some growing signs.
