Build In Public Update 1: Positioning

Background

The idea for beetu.be came about because I had the realisation that marketing alone does not really help businesses grow. Many businesses get stuck in a cycle of “doing marketing” (ie. hopping from channel to channel) and not really growing.

We had customers coming to our agency, Teranga, asking for SEO services, when actually they just wanted growth, and even if SEO is the best channel for that business, it’s just a piece of the growth puzzle. They needed more than just marketing, and with my track record, I felt I was in a position to help companies with this.

The first step for growth is to position your business and put together your product market fit hypothesis. One of the best ways to do this is to speak with your network/marketplace about the idea you have.

Prior to launching publicly, I had:

• Shared the concept with about 10 different businesses 

• All had very positive feedback and 4 were happy to get started right away

Didn’t have a name, website, or logo yet but already profitable. This is when you know your idea is probably a good one! So, I went to the next phase, defining product-market fit…

Let’s Talk About Product-Market Fit

How I define product-market-fit:

1. Niche: a specifically defined person or people group

2. Transformation: state A —> state B

3. Mechanism: how will achieve the transformation?

4. Price: price point, but also pricing mechanism

Each of your products or services will have a different product-market fit definition which is why it’s so important to pick just one.

You will only be able to determine if your hypothesis is correct when you start interacting with your marketplace. Ie: do people want to speak to you about your thing and are they interested in buying it?

Current Hypothesis For beetu.be

Here is my current hypothesis for beetu.be: 

1. Niche: Founders and directors of B2B service companies. Established, not start-ups. Small to SME size. Small or zero marketing team.

2. Transformation:

1. State A:

1. Track record of providing great service. Several case studies already

2. Reliant on referrals and not found a way to predictably grow

3. Have tried loads of different marketing and it hasn’t worked in the past

4. Always doing spot deals and never found true market resonance/product market fit

5. Worried that their business may not be ready for the post-covid world and difficult market conditions like we have in 2023

2. State B:

1. A fully functional client acquisition machine: rapid, predictable, profitable growth

2. Work with better clients

3. More profit

4. Never worry about losing clients or where their next deal is coming from

5. Survive (thrive) in difficult market conditions

3. Mechanism: one-to-one consulting program

4. Price: upfront fee, with payment plans available

I created some initial content around this idea (let’s talk about this in a future update) and have been sharing it with my audience. 

I’m currently in the phase where I am speaking to as many people as possible to test my theory. It’s about getting on calls with people in my marketplace and listening intently. 

All of these calls have come from my existing audience, from my email mailing list and sharing publicly on LinkedIn. Some of these may convert into paying customers, but that is not the main function. It’s to test the idea. 

Soon it will be time to start reaching out to cold prospects.

Action

If you found this useful, why not give this a try with your business? If you are an existing company with a track record, analyse your existing client base/case studies, and pick one niche, transformation, mechanism, and price. It really helps to think deeply about this and write it down.