Start-ups need a target customer identified in a niche market so that they are able to sell products and services. Who's your target customer?
Unfortunately, a good many of you said that everyone is your target customer. Too bad, you're probably not selling very much because you haven't been able to focus your product or service.
The good news is that you can start right now, but you have to ask yourself, who's the target customer that has a need, is willing to pay for what I can provide, and can I provide a quality product that they need?
Many start-ups will provide a product or service because they have a customer that is willing to pay for it, but then they provide a product or service that is not what the target customer was expecting. If this defines you, you're either selling the wrong product or service, haven't listened to the customer or you may be selling to the wrong customers. Whatever the reason, you need to figure out what the issue is and fix it fast.
Ideally, you're going to provide a product or service to your target customer that is the best, but if not, you need to at least be better than the rest while working on becoming the best you can be.
When you know who you're target customer is, you can be innovative and be thinking about what the target customer will ask for in the future. If you can foresee what they need before they ask for it, you can deliver a solution at the moment they ask for it. This strategy creates a barrier to entry because the service you give your customer can be the reason that they won't entertain doing business with your competition.
Knowing who you're target customer is a part of your marketing strategy which should start progress the moment you come up with the concept for your start-up.