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What Are Your Methods for Identifying Needs?

TheDillon__

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Hey all!

I think I dropped my entrepreneurial glasses in a parking lot somewhere so now my vision's a bit foggy.

The most common piece of advice I hear is start with what you know, so okay, I can do that.
What do I know?

* Mindset
* Atheism/Agnosticism/The Spirituality Struggle
* Language learning
* eBook writing
* Memorization
* Coffee
* Vegan food/cooking/lifestyle

My biggest concern is - I have no idea how to identify any hidden holes in these markets! Or maybe I have limiting beliefs about the solutions that I do come up with?

I have ideas that I come up with myself, however there's no merit in that. We all have a million ideas a day.

I know that there has to be some way to find out what my market is missing!

How could I, outside of trying to simply survey people, find out what needs to exist?

If you're of the belief that "starting with what you know" is unnecessary, read the question as "How do I select a market, and find holes that have yet to be plugged without throwing in my own ideas?"
 
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Young-Gun

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If you want to go deep, read my current thread on SaaS startup. There's a lot to read because there's a lot to learn and do.
I'm actively doing Customer Development (i.e. finding NEEDS) as we speak.
Most of my methods would apply for any business, any industry.
It's a lot of work, but can get amazing results.
 

TheDillon__

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For context, right now, I'm in the early stages of building a course for the Afrikaans language. I see that "learn afrikaans" gets 100-1000 searches on Google every month, medium competition, $0.45 suggested bid.

I believe that I can make a better Afrikaans course than those currently on the market.

Is this enough evidence to go on to say that I've "identified a hole in the market?"

Simply that first part. Of course, whether or not people still want my solution is another question. If I have properly identified a hole, I plan to build a website, release the first hour of the course for free, then use Social Ads and SEM in order to drive traffic to the site, and offer those who like the free content the ability to pre-order the rest.

Thoughts?
 

TheDillon__

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If you want to go deep, read my current thread on SaaS startup. There's a lot to read because there's a lot to learn and do.
I'm actively doing Customer Development (i.e. finding NEEDS) as we speak.
Most of my methods would apply for any business, any industry.
It's a lot of work, but can get amazing results.

Awesome man - I'll dive in and take a look! Thanks for commenting.
 
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Andy Black

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For context, right now, I'm in the early stages of building a course for the Afrikaans language. I see that "learn afrikaans" gets 100-1000 searches on Google every month, medium competition, $0.45 suggested bid.

I believe that I can make a better Afrikaans course than those currently on the market.

Is this enough evidence to go on to say that I've "identified a hole in the market?"

Simply that first part. Of course, whether or not people still want my solution is another question. If I have properly identified a hole, I plan to build a website, release the first hour of the course for free, then use Social Ads and SEM in order to drive traffic to the site, and offer those who like the free content the ability to pre-order the rest.

Thoughts?
Do some searches yourself and have a look at the competing ads and landing pages/offers.
Try and work out how you'd target people on Facebook who're in the market to learn Afrikaans.
No need to build a website, probably just a landing page.

The first post in this thread might help you:
 
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Azure

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Hoe Gaan dit?

Do you actually speak Afrikaans?
 

TheDillon__

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Hoe Gaan dit?

Do you actually speak Afrikaans?

Haai :) Met my gaan dit goed. Ek praat nou nie Afrikaans nie, maar ek glo dat ek genoeg vinnig leer kan, om dit ander mense te leer. :)
 
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TheDillon__

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Do some searches yourself and have a look at the competing ads and landing pages/offers.
Try and work out how you'd target people on Facebook who're in the market to learn Afrikaans.
No need to build a website, probably just a landing page.

The first post in this thread might help you:

I appreciate you taking out the time to drop a reply!

I'll take a look around that thread! :)

Would you consider that I've found a decent hole in this market?

Edit: Rather, that I've gone about finding a hole in the right way?
 
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TheDillon__

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Absolutely. I wouldn't mind getting into the food space.

However, I have the (probably incorrect/limiting) that food products have a costly barrier to entry and rely heavy on expensive marketing plays.

If anyone believes this to be incorrect - please let me know!
 
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Waspy

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Absolutely. I wouldn't mind getting into the food space.

However, I have the (probably incorrect/limiting) that food products have a costly barrier to entry and rely heavy on expensive marketing plays.

If anyone believes this to be incorrect - please let me know!

I've posted about it before. But I know (through a friend of mine) someone who stated making vegan milkshakes in her kitchen and selling at markets etc. 12-18 months later she was turning over £1m selling huge volume. Not saying it's easy, but never impossible.
 

TheDillon__

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If you want to go deep, read my current thread on SaaS startup. There's a lot to read because there's a lot to learn and do.
I'm actively doing Customer Development (i.e. finding NEEDS) as we speak.
Most of my methods would apply for any business, any industry.
It's a lot of work, but can get amazing results.

I notice a lot of really good info in this thread - a lot of system borrowing from Maxwell and The Foundation!

This is a great method for B2B projects - how could one go about Customer Dev for B2C?
 

Young-Gun

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I notice a lot of really good info in this thread - a lot of system borrowing from Maxwell and The Foundation!

This is a great method for B2B projects - how could one go about Customer Dev for B2C?

Hah, great question. That is one I'll have to leave in the air, as I really haven't given B2C as much thought for this current project.

Good eye! Dane Maxwell and the Foundation were a big influence on me (one of many, I'll say - since ultimately he's just repackaging the Lean Startup, basically).

Steve Blank is another major name in Customer Development - and a self-made (Silicon Valley) Billionaire. Don't know, but you might find his writings useful, as I have.
 
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TheDillon__

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Hah, great question. That is one I'll have to leave in the air, as I really haven't given B2C as much thought for this current project.

Good eye! Dane Maxwell and the Foundation were a big influence on me (one of many, I'll say - since ultimately he's just repackaging the Lean Startup, basically).

Steve Blank is another major name in Customer Development - and a self-made (Silicon Valley) Billionaire. Don't know, but you might find his writings useful, as I have.

Funnily enough, I actually own the hardback of The Startup Owner's Manual!

I haven't read too far into it, as I imagined it to be more geared towards tech startups. Whenever I hear "get out of the office," I imagine myself standing on the street corner asking people if they've tried Rosetta Stone - seems ineffective.

At the very least, this thread is starting to reveal that I may have more limiting beliefs than I thought!
 

Young-Gun

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Funnily enough, I actually own the hardback of The Startup Owner's Manual!

I haven't read too far into it, as I imagined it to be more geared towards tech startups. Whenever I hear "get out of the office," I imagine myself standing on the street corner asking people if they've tried Rosetta Stone - seems ineffective.

At the very least, this thread is starting to reveal that I may have more limiting beliefs than I thought!

Lolol, the ironies. I just ordered "4 Steps to the Epiphany" in hardback off Amazon, another Steve Blank book.

To me, "get out of the office" also means a lot of Cold-Emailing, Cold-Calling.
Steve says this himself every now and then - you don't literally have to be out-of-doors.
For me, it means DON'T BE AN INTROVERT (my natural tendency) when working as an entrepreneur.
Like, when George did everything backwards to his normal tendencies in that Seinfeld episode.
I do the opposite by continually "getting out of the office" and listening to my potential customers.

Anyway, I definitely do think Customer Development *before* building product is key... whether B2B or B2C... doing whatever possible to get people to say YES I REALLY WANT THAT even before you've created it.

I laughed at the Rosetta Stone thing :D
 

Mattie

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If you're of the belief that "starting with what you know" is unnecessary, read the question as "How do I select a market, and find holes that have yet to be plugged without throwing in my own ideas?"
I did a lot of observational research, spoke with individuals one on one, went in forums, groups, sites and interacted with people. Did the same thing offline. Observing competitors, trends, statistics, usually when you hear someone complaining, telling you about problems, those are needs.
There are usually groups of people hanging out together somewhere complaining about their needs, problems, and broken down catastrophe's whether it's the board room, the race track, the hospital, or where ever your focus is going.
Seriously, I believe you want to be the best at anything you have to know it inside and out, or else you're really not going to leave a long-term mark on society.
It may be creating a new tire for race cars, but you really have to dig deep down for the answers. What's not working. Why isn't it working? What are the materials? etc.
 
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TheDillon__

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I did a lot of observational research, spoke with individuals one on one, went in forums, groups, sites and interacted with people. Did the same thing offline. Observing competitors, trends, statistics, usually when you hear someone complaining, telling you about problems, those are needs.
There are usually groups of people hanging out together somewhere complaining about their needs, problems, and broken down catastrophe's whether it's the board room, the race track, the hospital, or where ever your focus is going.
Seriously, I believe you want to be the best at anything you have to know it inside and out, or else you're really not going to leave a long-term mark on society.
It may be creating a new tire for race cars, but you really have to dig deep down for the answers. What's not working. Why isn't it working? What are the materials? etc.

Very interesting - thanks for your input!

For those playing at home, so far we have three methods for identifying needs in the market.

1. Go cold - Mainly a B2B tactic. Find the group of you're looking to help, get some contact information, and perform idea extraction until you start to notice similarities in answers.
2. Land the plane - Build a landing page with a sample of your content, and get feedback from those who stop by! (Note - worry about building relationships with your customer, not about your conversion rate.)
3. Watch and Learn - Immerse yourself in your market. Hang out in meetups, forums, chat rooms, conferences of areas that you're interested in. See what people complain about and what they wish could be different!

Anyone else care to add their method?
 

thehighlander

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I believe that I can make a better Afrikaans course than those currently on the market.

Thoughts?

Have you ever taught anyone to speak Afrikaans? I'm asking because interacting with real clients is a great way to find out exactly what their problems are. This will inform you course development and marketing.
 

daru

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Hah, great question. That is one I'll have to leave in the air, as I really haven't given B2C as much thought for this current project.

Good eye! Dane Maxwell and the Foundation were a big influence on me (one of many, I'll say - since ultimately he's just repackaging the Lean Startup, basically).

Steve Blank is another major name in Customer Development - and a self-made (Silicon Valley) Billionaire. Don't know, but you might find his writings useful, as I have.
Ah, did not make that connection between Idea Extraction and The Lean Startup! I kind of see it now, thank you!

Good to get more books on the subject (Steve Blank). I'll guess you already checked out Paul Grahams essay on getting startup ideas?

There's also the Basecamp guys that recommends "scratching your own itch" (obviously needs to be checked against CENTS) . Books like REWORK and Getting Real.
 
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TheDillon__

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Have you ever taught anyone to speak Afrikaans? I'm asking because interacting with real clients is a great way to find out exactly what their problems are. This will inform you course development and marketing.
I've had success teaching people using this method - yes.
Ah, did not make that connection between Idea Extraction and The Lean Startup! I kind of see it now, thank you!

Good to get more books on the subject (Steve Blank). I'll guess you already checked out Paul Grahams essay on getting startup ideas?

There's also the Basecamp guys that recommends "scratching your own itch" (obviously needs to be checked against CENTS) . Books like REWORK and Getting Real.

I have not - here's a link to Graham's Essays for those who are interested.

Do the two books you mentioned at the tail of your post fit that Basecamp model? Or something else.
 

daru

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I've had success teaching people using this method - yes.


I have not - here's a link to Graham's Essays for those who are interested.

Do the two books you mentioned at the tail of your post fit that Basecamp model? Or something else.
Yes, Getting Real can be downloaded for free. Kind of old book and is geared towards SaaS and perhaps programmers if i remember correctly. REWORK has a chapter called "Scratch your own itch". The authors are Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

I find these two essays worth reading: Do things that don't scale and How to get startup ideas
 

TheDillon__

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Quick Update: So far with your help, I've identified four solid ways to find a hole in the market.

1. Idea Extraction - Cold calling / emailing businesses to find their biggest pain points.
2. The Lean Method - Brainstorming, then building a Minimum Viable Product, releasing it, and building forward based on customer feedback
3. The Ask Method - Surveying your market and placing responses into different 'buckets,' each with its own different issues.
4. Market Immersion - Spending a lot of time in your market, noticing for yourself places where your space can be improved.

Anyone have anything they want to add on?
 
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daru

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Quick Update: So far with your help, I've identified four solid ways to find a hole in the market.

1. Idea Extraction - Cold calling / emailing businesses to find their biggest pain points.
2. The Lean Method - Brainstorming, then building a Minimum Viable Product, releasing it, and building forward based on customer feedback
3. The Ask Method - Surveying your market and placing responses into different 'buckets,' each with its own different issues.
4. Market Immersion - Spending a lot of time in your market, noticing for yourself places where your space can be improved.

Anyone have anything they want to add on?
  • Scratching your own itch (or is that maybe nr. 4?)
  • Write down 10 ideas per day.
  • Help someone and keep eyes and ears open.
 

FreakyThomas

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Hello, little post-digging here since I think this thread ask a very interesting questions.
Did someone try the methods above ? What do you guys think about it ?
 

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