Target market

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Defining your target market is essential when you are setting up your business. It means you need to sort out who you are going to help, and how you are going to do that. Or who you are going to supply with what product.
And with any luck, your chosen target market, your decision who you are going to help and how you will go about doing that, coincides with the things you like best doing.

It seems that going through that process does have certain pitfalls.
For instance, it appears to be quite easy to first look at what you like doing best, and then focus on finding a target market for what you have to offer. And although this sounds like a good idea ~ and perhaps really is a good idea ~ the problem may be that you start focussing more on your need to do what you like to do, than on the needs of your target market.

When you look at an art like painting, there may be two types of painters. Those that paint ‘commercially’, and those that paint expressively. The first group will create paintings a client wants to have, the second group creates pieces of art out of the inner need for creative expression. And yet, both groups may define their target market in a similar manner; like art-loving, forty-something ‘two kids and a dog’ type clients.
At first glance, the first group seems more likely to be successful, as they are willing to supply their clients with what they feel suits them best. Yet, the second group may strike it big when their specific, inner self driven, creative expression hits a cord with, for instance, someone who is well known...

In reality, working with your target market may work best when all aspects come together in a balanced way. So what you do is something you like doing, or even something you have an inner drive to do ~ while you do it for people that really need what you have to offer. It means that while it can be tempting to only look at what you feel you want to do, you will have to observe the world around you in order to see what service or product the people ‘out there’ feel they need. In order to make your business successful, you will need to be flexible enough to adapt to what is needed in the market place.

I firmly believe that it is possible to build a successful business doing the things you like best doing. And in a sense, whether it is best to put your focus on the target market or on the inner drive to do what you like doing best is a ‘chicken and egg’ thing. Ultimately, both will need to come together in order for your business to work, and to bring you the fulfillment you need...
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