There are so many things to do and questions to ask as you start up your tech startup.
Where to begin? How to get organized? Where to find efficiencies? When will you be profitable?
Among all of the questions you ask as a founder, one of the most important to focus on at the start is whether or not you really know your intended buyers.
Do you understand who they are, what they need, and what motivates them? Do you know what keeps them up at night?
The Precursa entrepreneurial roadmap can help you answer these and other questions as it is designed to guide you throughout the startup process with actionable steps like creating a buyer persona that radically increases the likelihood of a successful launch.
Starting a tech industry-changing business means knowing your customer and the problems they face.
Pinpointing the profile for your ideal customer, the person you believe will buy your offering first, will speed up your go-to-market strategy.
Making a persona: Getting to know your customer
A persona, in easy terms, is a detailed description of your potential customer. A semi-fictional representation based on market research and real data about your proposed and existing customers.
Creating this type of descriptive profile is not a one-and-done exercise.
Like many things in your business, a persona is fluid. It is a description of your ideal client and is something that should be returned too often to ensure that you understand who your offer is targeting.
You should include as much detail as possible when creating your personas. Many persona bios even include a photo or image of each persona’s appearance.
Accurate and detailed personas created for each of your target markets/customers will help you uncover details about the psychographics, demographics, behaviors, lifestyle, and wishes of the typical person that fits in your target niche.
You can use this information to create messaging, mold your idea towards a better market fit, and project early responses to your MVP launch.
Getting the information: Learning about your ideal client
There are easy ways you can gather persona information such as surveys, customer interviews, and small focus groups.
If you do not have any customers yet, don’t fret. These tactics are just as viable with intended customers as they are with existing customers.
The key is to strike a balance between how much you ask and how often you ask it.
Negative personas: Know what you don’t want
When you were dating, did it ever feel more like a process of elimination than a direct line to finding your ideal partner or someone you’d want to spend time with?
Part of your persona-building process may feel like dating in that regard.
You will spend time learning exactly who your ideal client is in many areas of their lives, but you might also begin to find data on who your ideal client is not.
In fact, it is often good to uncover who you don’t wish to pursue, thereby who is NOT your target market.
Collecting information and creating avatars that represent your less-than-ideal customers can weed out those that are not a fit.
These are called negative personas.
A negative persona is an individual (a buyer) who is not a good fit for your product.
They have no ability or interest in paying for what you plan to produce.
Like refusing to accept a second date, eliminating those who are like this negative persona from your target group will help you narrow in on what makes the right buyer for your startup.
- There are three red flags you should identify when creating your negative personas.
- Lack of ability to pay for your offer (they are interested in your solution but are not ideal as they cannot afford your idea)
- Unrealistic expectations about the solution you offer
- A higher-than-average cost to acquire their business (they take too much work from you or your team to be ideal buyers)
It is just as important to know what audience you are not trying to attract as it is to know your target buyer.
Buyer personas: Increase sales by getting it right
A deep understanding of your buyer personas is critical to content creation, product development, sales follow-up, and really anything that relates to customer acquisition and retention.
This means your personas basically affect your entire operation, regardless of what you are selling.
Especially for tech start-ups who are competing for a space in a cluttered market, it is essential that you get your personas right.
Well fleshed out and documented personas:
- Help you make fewer mistakes made as you launch in the market because you know your target.
- Save time by not having to correct the wrong sales and marketing approach.
- Achieve revenue generation goals faster when the right message meets the right people.
- Get the benefit of free marketing from raving fan customers.
- Fewer headaches and less stress.
Get Started on Your Personas
To get clear on your start-up idea and market plan you must talk to your potential customers.
Lots of them.
Plan to spend 3-60 minutes with 100 people you think could use your solution and find out if they need your solution to their problem.
Not only will this exercise help your prelaunch process, but it will also help you to continually iterate and better your business using your buyer personas as a guide.
The Precursa Score can help you travel down the right path as you move from idea to MVP launch.
Contact us today to apply for an invite to this new, innovative startup technology.
