February 13, 2024
Starting a business can be exciting but also daunting, particularly for first-time entrepreneurs.
The existential stage of business is where all startups must begin, and if they skip elements, they build on a weak and shaky foundation.
This stage involves identifying the problem in the market, defining your goals, identifying your target audience, and expressing your product offerings. A clear understanding of these elements is essential for any business to succeed.
This guide will provide insights into how startups can navigate the existential stage of business and set themselves up for success.
The first step in any business is identifying the problem you are solving.
What is the gap in the market that your product or service is filling?
Understanding the problem gives you a clear direction, making it easier to focus and create a value proposition that resonates with customers.
But it doesn’t end there.
Now, ask why you want to solve this particular problem. Is the problem personally meaningful to you? Is there an extraordinary opportunity that’s possible if you can solve this problem?
It’s not enough to just be different. You need to be better.
As a founder, you must also ask yourself what you want from this business.
What do you want to achieve as an entrepreneur? Understanding your motivations will help you create a business plan that aligns with your vision. Be clear about what you want in your life and how the business will help you achieve those things.
Identifying your end goal at the beginning ensures you’re leaning your ladder against the right wall before you begin the climb.
Without clarifying these existential elements, it is easy to become rudderless and lose your direction.
After defining the problem and your goals, the next step is to narrow down your target audience.
Who cares about the problem you are solving?
Most entrepreneurs create too many offers early in the process, diluting their business's focus and impact.
It can be helpful to describe your ideal customer through a tool like a persona but don’t lose sight of the critical elements of their experience that map directly to the problem you’re solving.
Knowing your audience helps you create the right messaging and product offerings for them.
Once you have identified the problem you will solve and the target audience you will solve it for, the next step is to clarify what you offer to solve the problem.
Most entrepreneurs create too many offers early in the process, diluting their business's focus and impact. If you have multiple ideas, rank them based on their revenue, impact and sustainability.
There must be a core offering.
People talk all the time about differentiation. But it’s not enough to just be different. You need to be better.
The existential stage of business is where all startups must begin, and if they skip elements, they build on a weak and shaky foundation.
You must specifically name how your offer is better in regard to what your ideal customer wants and needs.
When it comes to uniqueness, you must define a new category that you can own.
Identifying your key deliverables requires you to name the elements of your offer where your customer benefits.
This step may seem obvious, but if you can’t easily name the connection, your customer won’t make it.
Without clarifying these existential elements, it is easy to become rudderless and lose your direction.
All this comes together in a solution statement that succinctly defines the customer's problem in the context of your solution.
At Founder’s Best Friend, our solutions statement is “A clear path to sustainable revenue.”
Navigating the existential stage of business is critical, and it requires founders to have clarity around their goals, target audience, and product offerings. By defining these elements, startups can position themselves for success and create a compelling value proposition for their customers.
As a founder, you must also ask yourself what you want from this business.
If you move on without clarity, you will sail rudderless and be powerless to wherever the wind takes you and your business.
But when you have a clear and compelling solution statement, you are ready to move on to the next stage of Discovery.
