Boss School Week 2 lesson: "Your customer's ultimate goal is to get rid of pain and get to Pleasure Island," Davidson said. "And 99 percent of the time they do not care whether they get there on a paddle boat, yellow sailboat or cruise ship, as long as they get there."
Editor's note: Bizwomen reporter Caroline McMillan Portillo is participating in — and reporting on — Boss School, a 10-week online course designed to teach busy, aspiring female entrepreneurs what they need to know to start and grow a business. (For more background, click here. )
In my first week of Boss School, we talked about what makes for a successful entrepreneur. Week Two was all about finding out if your idea will make for a successful business. At the heart of that: market research.
Don't fall asleep on me. I know it sounds boring. But it can actually be exciting, fun even. Here are a few strategies I learned for determining your customer and then using that profile to get every subset of your business to align — from the marketing to the product development to your content strategy.
1. Remember the essence of every business should be this: "Get your customer to Pleasure Island."
First, you've got to get your company goal down to a few simple sentences. What issues are you trying to address for your customer?
Think of it this way: "Your customer's ultimate goal is to get rid of pain and get to Pleasure Island," Boss School co-founder Sara Davidson said. "And 99 percent of the time, they do not care whether they get there on a paddle boat, yellow sailboat or cruise ship — as long as they get there."
So are you a sail boat, a cruise ship or a paddle boat? And what kind of customer would choose each? Then you can leverage your competitive advantages. A yellow sailboat may let you feel the wind in your hair, but a paddle boat is cheaper. What are they most likely to pick?
