{"id":16219,"date":"2018-11-08T16:36:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T00:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/?p=16219"},"modified":"2018-11-08T16:36:54","modified_gmt":"2018-11-09T00:36:54","slug":"why-specificity-is-key-to-a-founders-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/why-specificity-is-key-to-a-founders-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Specificity is Key to a Founder\u2019s Success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Barley has been a member of\u00a0Founders Network<\/span><\/a>\u00a0since May 2017. He\u2019s also been a prominent FN member in our London Chapter<\/a>. To receive peer mentorship from Chris and over 600 fellow Tech Founders, please\u00a0request an invite<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and join our global network.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

There are many sources of advice available to entrepreneurs and sometimes the volume seems overwhelming. Dipping into the wide-ranging trough of Medium articles, blogs and podcasts can be quite a time sink, and whilst entertaining, spreading your reading too thinly limits your ability to really progress on a few key topics.<\/p>\n

So I try and be specific and focus only on the articles that are relevant to what I want to achieve, and resonate for me. <\/p>\n

I believe you can make the same analogy with running a startup. I\u2019ve been involved in two startups, and the experience I\u2019m hopefully carrying into my third is all about specificity\u2014 to be as specific as possible in key areas of the business; target market, value proposition and message. This I find makes it easier to create momentum and hit targets.<\/p>\n

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Be as specific as possible in key areas of the business; target market, value proposition and message.\u00a0@christobarley<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Narrow in On Your Market<\/h2>\n

It\u2019s all too common to aim for a big market in the belief that, as it\u2019s a large pool of customers, your ideal customer will be out there somewhere and you will just miraculously find them \u2013 I\u2019m certainly guilty of this! But of course aiming for a big market doesn\u2019t make it easier to hit. This is common sense if you think about it – large markets have wide ranging and complex requirements which make it almost impossible to find that perfect customer and score a bullseye.<\/p>\n

Build a Customer Persona<\/h2>\n

Defining your ideal customer in the early stages is hard, especially when you have little feedback or market data. Building a customer persona really helped me here \u2013 it forces you to define your buyer as a human, and to deeply understand what makes them tick. And once you have an identikit, you have something to aim for.<\/p>\n

You may well get it wrong, but being specific should enable you to set goals and measure results quickly, and change tack without wasting too much time and money. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s not to say that you can\u2019t start off with a grand vision and end up dominating a multi $bn market. But it\u2019s very hard to do it the other way round. A start up has only very finite resources \u2013 which is mostly your (the founder\u2019s) time. You have to be hyper focus on a defined niche otherwise you just spread yourself too thin.<\/p>\n

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A start up has only very finite resources \u2013 which is mostly the founder\u2019s time.\u00a0@christobarley<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Define Your Proposition<\/h2>\n

Being specific also results in the discipline of really digging into your target market\u2019s problems, so the solution is tailored just for them. This will almost certainly result in a small addressable market but as we all know, a few wildly happy customers are worth more than many mildly indifferent ones.<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t be specific about defining your customers\u2019 requirements, then the likelihood is that you\u2019re making a guess at what they are. And that could result in your shot ending way off target.<\/p>\n

With a market and proposition defined, I find its then a lot simpler to put together a persuasive and precise message that hits a nerve with the customer. A defined customer persona also really helps here to determine the optimum route to market.<\/p>\n

Of course, this all requires hard, diligent work. But it can also save a lot of effort in the long run. Being specific means that you can test upfront your own assumptions about why your service might be successful. If you are going to build a taxi hailing app, it\u2019s difficult to definitively say whether it will work or not. But if you say you are going to build an app for weekend limo booking in downtown San Francisco for time poor, wealthy tech entrepreneurs, then you can test each precise assumption, sometimes without even building an MVP.<\/p>\n

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With a market and proposition defined, I find its a lot simpler to put together a persuasive and precise message that hits a nerve with the customer.\u00a0\u00a0@christobarley<\/b><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Create a Mental Framework<\/h2>\n

And the rub comes from the fact that, in today\u2019s internet and social media world, being razor focused is now an optimum strategy because it\u2019s now much easier to reach your ideal customers in niche markets with a small budget. After you\u2019ve achieved your beachhead, the internet means you can scale into a multi $bn market quicker and more cost effectively than ever before.<\/p>\n

Specificity is an attitude and a mindset. I\u2019ve found it can provide a helpful mental framework to making decisions about what to do next in your early stage business. Without it, a startup can be a long, hard, winding road, making success more difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Barley has been a member of\u00a0Founders Network\u00a0since May 2017. He\u2019s also been a prominent FN member in our London Chapter. To receive peer mentorship from Chris and over 600 … <\/p>\n

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