Hello. This is Kamiyama.
I create and sell businesses.

This is a series where I'll explain the entire process of building a business.Last time, we talked about writing down your business plan no matter what, we talked about. When you actually put it into words and give it form, what you need to do becomes clear. If you don't know what you're trying to do or what you should do, you often end up making misguided moves even when you take action.

Also, in the process of putting it into words and diagrams, ideas deepen. Various ideas will spark, deepen, and be added, such as 'I need to prepare this' or 'I should do this,' adding depth to the business plan. Through that work, you finally start to see what you are trying to do and what hurdles you need to overcome.

So, once the business plan is written, what action should you take next?

What you should consider here is,First, before taking action, determine the direction you should move inis necessary. In other words, you must consider 'who' you will sell to and 'where' that person is. 'Who' is, of course, the person who will become a customer. They are also called prospective customers. And 'where' is usually where your target prospective customers are.

If those two things are clear, the probability of your product or service selling will significantly increase. Let's delve a little deeper into each of them.

Who will want my product?

We often use the term 'persona,' but we need to clarify the actual image of the person you are trying to sell to. Exactly how old is the customer, and are they male or female? How many family members do they have, what kind of life do they lead, and how much income do they have? Try to imagine it thoroughly.

Simply listing data is not enough. That person,what they think when they wake up in the morning, how they feel when they eat breakfast, what time they leave home, how they feel on the train, when they arrive at work, and other detailed daily life cyclesTry to write it all down thoroughly.

Those who sell products or services, first,customer professionalsmust become. They need to know everything about their customers. Actually, try to find people who have purchased or who closely resemble your target persona, and talk to them directly. Conduct as many interviews as possible, and thoroughly dig out everything from customer needs to complaints and personalities.

The more you know your customers, the clearer your subsequent strategies will become. First, make it absolutely clear who you are trying to sell to. If you don't know who will want your product or service, it's natural to not know where to go.

Where are the potential customers?

If you have thoroughly explored your personas and learned about your customers, then next,where your customers areLet's pinpoint that. If it's online, by determining which social media and online services they use and how they use them, you'll be able to see where your own customers are.

For example, investigating how they use online services and tools, such as which X (formerly Twitter) accounts they frequently follow, or which Facebook pages they follow and how they use Facebook itself, is also part of the process of pinpointing 'where' they are.

The reason why social media and online services are 'where' is because they become platforms for approaching customers later on, by using the services they use as stages for advertising or running campaigns.'Where' means 'a place where you can make contact with customers'.It doesn't matter whether it's online or offline.

Thoroughly finding places where customers gather and providing attractive and meaningful content to them. This is the absolute minimum requirement when selling any product or service. If you don't know 'where,' you'll have to blindly spend advertising costs or effort, leading to a roundabout and inefficient process.

If you know 'who' you're trying to sell to and 'where' 'they' are, you can take the first step.

Conversely, it's said that if these two aren't set as hypotheses, you won't be able to sell. Because you'd have to spend wasted effort and cost on people who aren't particularly looking for your product. You must always consider how to effectively reach a large number of people who are closer to making a purchase.

For example, let's say you created a website. And let's say 1% of visitors to the website purchase a product. If 100 people visited the website, one of them would make a purchase. And let's say you spent 1,000 yen to acquire this one person. Then, if you spend 10,000 yen, 10 people will buy the product, and if you spend 100,000 yen, 100 people will purchase. This is how you can establish a benchmark.

If you precisely deliver this probability to people who are more interested in the product, 1% will become 2%, and 2% will become 3%. In reality, if you can identify who to sell to and have an attractive approach that resonates with that person, the rest is 'calculation.' How much did it cost, and how many people became customers? You just need to adjust what to do to increase that probability.

Most people seem to think about customers, but they don't really. They don't analyze them in depth. That's why they promote in the wrong places, lowering their chances of selling. Eventually, they are driven by costs into a precarious situation, leading to collapse.

First, carefully consider and determine who your customers are and where they are, then formulate a customer acquisition plan. However, in reality, no matter how much you hypothesize 'this must be right,' it's possible that things might be slightly off when you actually put it into action. In such cases,adjust and correct in real-time.You just need to do that. Re-establish your hypotheses and adjust your approach. When starting any business, the first rule is to become a customer professional. That's the ironclad rule.