A ‘belief’ is a state of mind wherein an individual places their trust and confidence in someone or something. They exhibit a sense of desire, care and faith in the same, without any need for a proof of existence.

As a startup consultant, I believe that most startups remain startups because they don’t know how to raise funding. They do not address the root cause of what their target segment wants and believes in. As a result they cannot even convince investors on how they are different from others in terms of their USP and are unable to raise funds.

Simon Sinek says “People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it”.

Photo by The 77 Human Needs System on Unsplash

So to determine the ideal product-market fit (PMF), a business must understand what it is that the customers believe in, because their needs must be aligned with why you are doing what you are doing!

What is also important to note is that I have mentioned the term target segment. If a business goes out and tries to sell to customers that are never going to be the right market for them, then all their efforts will be in vain. Hence, they need to first study the market, understand their Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Attainable Market (SAM), and their Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM). It is this SOM that they need to ensure a PMF with and gradually strive to scale towards their SAM!