At the heart of every business startup is providing solutions to market pain points. If you aren’t providing solutions, then you are in trouble as your business might face the threat of extinction. It is either you are solving a problem or you park up.
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Without solving problems consistently, it is only a matter of time before you are out of business. Moreover, before setting up your startup, you must think of solving a problem by providing solutions to it. However, as time goes on, there will be more problems that will erupt. As an entrepreneur, your key trait should be solving problems rather than thinking of making a profit.
There are times when you might be faced with new problems in the market. Of course, it is not wise to just develop a product that does not truly address the problem. Knowing a problem too well can be the bedrock of your business idea. But the question is how do you go about solving market pain points?
Below, I highlight eight points on how to solve market pain points:
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Identify And Study Demographics Pain Points
The first step is to identify the demography’s pain point you want to address. This is when you take a critical study struggles a specific demography face while trying to get something done. Hence, you have to study the nature of the problem.
Also, you also have to identify existing solutions and how they have failed in addressing the problems fully. For example, there are a lot of farmers in Nigeria who are finding it difficult to detect and control pest invasion.
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Research On Existing Solutions
Nothing is new under the sun, and of course, there might be existing solutions. You can get existing solutions by researching by reading existing research works and other materials.
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In the case of agriculture, for instance, there are many journal articles and texts that provided solutions to pest invasions. Moreover, you can get also ask the demography what existing solutions they are using to address their problems. For example, farmers might have employed traditional means of detecting and preventing pest invasion, but the existing solutions may not be addressing the problem fully.
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Brainstorm With Your Team
The next step is to sit down with your team to brainstorm on the first findings, which are the demography pain points and the existing solutions. This is critical; hence, those that make up your team must be up to the task. Reaching out to experts on such matters to brainstorm solutions will birth new ideas that can truly address the problem. The team should include experts on such matters – they could be professionals or academics – who have ideas on the problems and possible solutions. Also, among the team should be those who can transform ideas from solutions to products.
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Consult Your Demographics
The next step is to include your demographics in the solution-finding process. Listening to the opinions of your market demography will not only tell you the nature of the problem they go through, but also it will inform you on the kind of solution they want.
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As a matter of fact, the members of your demography are in the best position to tell you the solution they want. Hence, you have to ask them what they want, but as an entrepreneur, you can modify their request into something feasible and tangible.
After engaging in the four steps we discussed above, the next step is to arrange all the findings and formulate them into one tangible blueprint. For instance, farmers have told you that pests usually invade their farmlands at an unsuspected time of the year; you can choose to produce a pest-invasion early warning app to solve their problems or build a pest-repellent device that drives them away.
Next, you have to test the validity of your solution. How feasible is it? It is sustainable in the long run? Can farmers access it and as well trust your solution. You can ask external experts to peer-review your solution and offer use corrections, and advice.
The next step is to transform your solution into a tangible product. This is the time you have the gather the various components and invent a product that will address the prevailing problem of your market demography. This is also the time you will choose the shape, designs, form, and features your solution will come in. Are you interested in making your product in hardware or software format? For example, if you want to build a pest-invasion warning sign, you will incorporate weather sensors, and Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities in your solution. More so, you have to ensure that your product has both an easy user experience and user interface capabilities.
This time you have to get independent product testers. Your product must undergo various phases of testing to ensure it is ready to hit the market. These phases include, but are not restricted to; i.) the credibility (which includes speed, reliability, efficiency, etc.) of the product to solve the said problem, and ii.) the user experience and user interface.
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This article was first published on 28th June 2022
nnaemeka-emmanuel
Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.
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