Get Lost in a Niche

I will say it again: it is a bad idea to cast a wide net as an early stage entrepreneur!  Most founders know this and yet struggle to hone in on a specific market and target customers.

I totally get the attractiveness of going broad, to say let me do something for everybody. I know because I have fallen prey to the same temptation.

When starting out, I have a bunch of untested hypotheses and I don't want to leave any potential customers out. The mind makes me think that  by focusing too narrow I am shrinking my market opportunity.

In fact, the opposite is true!

You have a higher chance of attracting a higher percentage of people from your target market when you build products specifically for them (vs a product designed for a broader market but it doesn't really fit anyone's specific needs).

Your job is to make a product so valuable for that specific market that everyone wants in and in most cases that is  a big enough market to validate your idea.

When you can prove success in a niche market, you have a higher chance of succeeding in other markets. 

You can always go broad later, when you have the product-market fit, when you have a loyal customer base, when you have backing of investors. 

So in the beginning, get lost in a niche.