So you got that great idea, found out your true passions, and you’re ready to rock and roll and get your business started. So what’s the first step that you should take? Let’ s talk about that.

To back up a bit, I’ll repeat what I always say which is: find out what your true passions are then use those to build a business that you are going to love. For those in my Inner Circle, we covered a 5 step strategy for determining your true passions. When you have that nailed, then it’s time for the next step.

The next step is actually two-fold: •Find out who your customer will be (this week’s article) •Discover what they want (next week’s article)

Finding out who your customer is determining your Target Market. These are the people who you will target with your marketing efforts. Think about exactly who they might be. You must get crystal clear on this before you move forward with your business or your efforts are likely to be very scattered and largely fruitless. When you don’t know who your customer is, you do a few things that derail your business.

One is where you try to please everyone. If you have a product or service in mind and you begin to wonder what "everyone" thinks about it or what would everyone would need, you’re trying to please everyone and that actually undermines the success of your business. Your efforts become scattered because you can’t ever please everyone.

For example, if you are a Life Coach, sure, you can probably coach a lot of people on life issues. But until you refine your target market, you don’t give people a reason to work with you. You don’t stand out from the crowd of Life Coaches out there. To refine who your target market is, you decide on a niche—a particular area that you’ve carved out for yourself. Your niche as a Life Coach can be, say, working mothers over 30. Or, it could be female executives. Or it could be parents of children with cancer. Typically it’s a combination of who they are (e.g. parents, executives) and what they need that defines your niche or your target market clearly.

Most new entrepreneurs resist this first step because they are afraid that they will get fewer customers if they narrow down their target market or carve out a niche for themselves. They are afraid that they’ll leave someone out and actually reduce their business. In reality, the opposite is true. You actually get more customers because when someone hears what you do and who you serve, they can immediately say "Yes, that’s me!"

If your target market is "everyone" then people are less likely to identify with what you do or sell, and it becomes harder for people to hear your message. Not only that, it will be harder for you to get clients and customers because no-one sees you as specializing in any particular thing. When you get clear on your target market and your niche, it becomes much easier to develop your message to attract customers and to market your expertise. You absolutely must to find a way to carve out a niche for your business. It is critical to your success.