Hey friends 👋,
Navigating the startup journey can often feel like searching for a needle in a haystack.
You’re not alone if you think that finding product/market fit is a daunting milestone – it takes about two years for most, and sadly, 80 – 90% of products and services never reach this point.
Considering these statistics and the potential years of exploring ideas, one can’t help but think there must be a better way.
There is: it’s called Problem/Solution Fit.
Today we’ll cover:
- Why focus on problem/solution fit?
- The 4 steps to problem/solution fit
Let’s dive in.
Read Time 2.5 mins
🧠 Why Focus on Problem/Solution Fit?
Problem/Solution Fit isn’t just a preliminary step; it’s the cornerstone of your startup’s journey.
This crucial phase isn’t about hoping there’s a market for your product, it’s about proving there is demand for it.
Achieving this fit means you can clearly show:
- Demand Desirability: There are enough customers repeatedly buying your product.
- Product Feasibility: You’re confident you can build the solution.
- Economic Viability: The solution can be offered at a price that makes business sustainable.
Product/Solution fit can happen much faster than Product/Market Fit. It can start tomorrow and give you enough evidence in a matter of weeks.
💪 How to Find Problem/Solution Fit
1) Immerse yourself in the problem space: One of the biggest downfalls of startup founders is believing we know what customers need.
The reality is that people may not know what they need, but they most certainly are the ones that experience the problem, know what frustrates them and what they are trying to achieve.
Getting out of the office (and our heads) will surface insight that not only inform your solution. But, provide valuable context data to shape competitive advantage and sales strategies.
MUST READ ARTICLE: How to Master Customer Interviews
2) Gain Insight: Making sense of what customers are saying van be a challenge. But, deriving insight and meaning will transform you thinking and solution.
Additionally, we can become too attached to our ideas, so once we understand what customers are trying to achieve and what is getting in their way, many possible solutions can be on the table.
HOW TO GET INSIGHTS: The Top 5 Insight Generating Tools
3) Design a Compelling Value Proposition: Crafting a value proposition that resonates with potential customers can be an easy and rapid way to start testing a solution.
However, I recommend not only working on the value proposition in isolation. Combine it with designing a first iteration of your business model.
Then, as you test your value proposition you can zoom in and out from the value proposition to the business model to keep iterating until you find what is hitting the mark.
HOW TO DESIGN YOUR BUSINESS: Value Propositions and Business Model Canvas
4) Experiment Your Way to Problem/Solution Fit: Next we need to map out our most critical assumptions and focus on testing the ones that we have little evidence for.
As a startup you have limited resources and need to focus effort on a few key things that we need to learn. Initially, these will be in the desirability and viability zones (rather than feasibility) because confirming people care about the problem, there is enough of them and they are prepared to pay is critical.
That’s where rapid experimentation comes in.
MUST READ: Running Experiments
⚡️Call to Action
Starting with Problem/Solution Fit doesn’t just minimise risk – it positions your startup to effectively meet real needs with the right solutions, paving the way to product/market fit and beyond.
By aligning your initial focus on what your customers truly need, you’re not just building a product; you’re creating value that’s hard to ignore.
Start testing your business ideas today!
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That’s all for today friends 👋
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Thanks for being here,
Vaughan
PS. See you in next Wednesday 6:45am NZ
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