I know this might come as a shock… but your online business needs to solve a real problem for your audience.

I’ve listened to a lot of people talk about the businesses they want to create. Sometimes I find myself scratching my head, wondering if their idea really is a business — because it doesn’t solve a real problem for people. At least not one that people are willing to pay to have solved… 

I don’t want to be a downer here, but if you’re not solving a problem for your audience, your business won’t succeed.

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What A Business Really Is

At their core, businesses are about helping people solve a problem. We solve problems in different ways through our services or products.

But the businesses that last go beyond just solving a problem. They improve the lives of their customers. Ultimately, your business should make your customers’ lives better.

So when you’re starting your business and identifying the problem you solve for your audience, you should start with this broad question: “How can I improve their life?” 

Build A Business That Will Support You For The Long Term

Entrepreneurs often make a few different mistakes when coming up with a business idea. Sometimes, they talk about offering esoteric solutions to problems that people don’t realize they have. Reality check: there’s not enough market to make a living with that kind of business.

If you want to build a business that can support you and your family over the long term, you need to ask the right questions.

“Does the business I want to create solve a real problem that people are willing to pay to solve?”

Basically, you need to determine whether this issue is something that enough people are struggling with and looking for a solution to that you can make a business out of it.

Obviously, I can’t answer that for you, but there are a few reliable areas where you can find a problem to solve:

• Health
• Wealth
• Relationships
• Recreation

People are generally looking for solutions that can help them make money, improve their health, and improve their relationships. If you can get your product and your solution to fit into these key areas, that’s a good foundation. But you should still ask the deeper question of whether it’s something people will value.

If you can help people make money or have a better career, that’s something they will value.

If you can help people improve their relationships, there’s a market there.

If you can help people get healthier, feel more fit, lose weight, yes, there’s a market there.

The magnitude of problem you help people solve will affect how much there’ll be willing to pay for the solution.

If you’re outside of these areas, you want to be more skeptical of your idea.

Your Solution Has To Address A Problem Your Audience Recognizes They Have

This point is what trips people up the most. People will often talk about knowing their audience and what they need to do.

But the question is, does your audience even recognize that they have a problem? If not, you need to be able to come up with messaging that will relate to the issue.

There’s an expression in the marketing that says, “You have to speak to your customer’s bleeding neck.”

From a medical perspective, if I see my blood shooting out of my neck, I know I got a problem, and I’ve got to solve it. This is a clear problem, and there’s no question it needs to be solved.

That means you have to identify the bleeding neck problem your ideal customers have and be able to describe their problem in a way that they will immediately recognize it and say, “Yeah, that’s a real problem I’m facing, and I need to fix it.”

If you can’t describe the problem in those terms, it’s going to be difficult for you to get their attention.

At the end of the day, the solution you offer people has to speak into the problems that they see. This is a challenging concept, and I often see people struggle because their messaging is a few steps more advanced than their audience is able to recognize. If you use language that your audience doesn’t really identify with, they won’t recognize that you’re solving a real problem.

You Have To Make Sure Your Product Is Actually Providing The Solution

Once you’ve found the right language to describe the actual problem your people are facing, then you have to make sure that your solution can close that gap.

You can’t simply create a training about X, Y, and Z if all that information is free and easily available and there’s no real problem in figuring it out.

If all the information is available but it’s in 85 different places and it’s hard to figure out, then there might be some value in putting it together. 

You have to figure out your solution and how to deliver it in a way that’s tied to the underlying obstacle they face.

For example, if you help people with weight loss, selling a bunch of recipes is probably not going to do much good. It’s usually not about knowing what to eat but about the changing behavior.

Instead, you have to craft and design a program, product, or service that will get them the results they need and not just treat the symptom.

Building A Learning Experience For Your Audience

Your solution needs to create a learning experience that helps your audience get results. Part of the problem that we all have to solve is inaction. That needs to be part of how you design your programs, products, or services.

You need to understand your audience and find ways to get them into action and solve their problems. 

The Journey You Have To Take

When it comes to building a business, you have to think through four things. First, the problem you’re solving. Second, how you can make your customers’ lives better. Third, how to send the right message to make sure your people recognize their problems. Fourth, how you can help them get the results.

If you can’t check all these boxes, you’re going to have a tough time selling your product because it’s not a problem that people think they need to solve, or it’s something that you can’t actually help them solve. And even if you do sell it upfront quickly, people are going to hear that it doesn’t work.

This is the journey you have to take. Ultimately, your customers’ success is your business’s success.

You can learn more about figuring out the problem and solution for your audience and a whole lot of other things when you join BADA$$ Online Marketing University (BOMU). It’s my free program designed to help entrepreneurs build an online business that lasts.

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