Identifying the market you’re in (or going to be in) is an important startup activity.
The market is the combination of a community (who do you I want to serve?) and a problem (what is frustrating them or keeping them up at night?). Those people, with that problem, are either actively or passively in search of a solution.
Actively searching for a solution means they are looking for information online, asking their acquaintances about it, reading about it, watching videos about it, etc.
Passively searching for a solution means they are keeping their mind open so if someone mentions it, they’ll engage in a conversation to learn if there is a solution or to get leads on how to solve it.
A community may have many needs and problems so when you identify the market you are selecting one important need or problem to investigate further.
Continuing the example from identify what the community needs, the combination of the community “freelance graphic designer” and the problem “managing invoices manually” is the market: freelance graphic designers looking for a solution to managing invoices manually.
A market is formed by people looking to buy something, and a person with a problem for which they’re willing to pay money to solve is looking to buy something.
Identifying the market is not market research. Identifying the market comes before market research. The outcome of market research may cause you to choose a different market, but you must identify the market first before you can do in-depth research on it.
Once you identify the market, you can continue to market research to find out more about it.
Compass
After you identify the market, continue to market research.
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