Dear Bunker,
I’ve come to realize that as a bootstrapped entrepreneur, it’s much easier to achieve profitability when you stop swimming up streaming, trying to force your products or services on the market, and position your business in an area where your perfect customer is already spending money.
In 2018, I launched IRONBOUND Boxing’s for-profit arm, teaching on-site boxing classes to companies in the NYC Metro Area. From 2018 until 2020, when I pivoted into podcast production, selling on-site boxing classes was a constant uphill battle. There wasn’t a real market demand for what I was offering. Although everyone I spoke with prior to launching, told me it was a good idea, the reality is that the revenue didn’t match their opinions.
Once I pivoted into podcast production, I was profitable out the gate because I found an industry where people were already spending money, then carved out my own niche working with veteran-owned business and organizations, specifically Service Academy graduates.
When you’re in a growth industry, you can feel it. It’s like catching the perfect wave, with the water rushing underneath you, and all you have to do is stay on the board and not fall off. As you refine the market your going after in your business, here are few considerations:
1) Is your perfect customer already spending money in the industry your targeting.
2) Within the industry, is there a specific niche that you have a tactical advantage in, i.e. being a Marine Corps Veteran and targeting other veteran-owned businesses owned by Marines.
3) Do people in the industry already like know, and trust you, and if not, what can you do to get them to?
This is enough to get you started. The key is focus on opportunities where demand already exists and redirect it to you.
**Let me know your thoughts on today’s newsletter by commenting below.
Bootstrapped Veterans Need To Think Market First, In Order To Increase Their Chances of Entrepreneurial Success