The first step in any lean process , Woops the 2nd step(the 1st being 5S), is understanding or identifying your target market and ideal client. Many people fail to do this and in a recession it can lead to disaster rather quickly.
The Marketing Mavens by Noel Capon is a great book to assist you in this identification. They have slightly different take on it but the book brings out some points that may help you identify your market and client. He professes that the fundamental challenge of business today is to serve customer needs amid continuous change. Nothing earth shattering but he also states that the top companies do this based on these five core values:
- Pick markets that matter.
- Select segments to dominate
- Design the market offer to create customer value and secure differential advantage.
- Integrate to serve the customer.
- Measure what matters
If you really think through his process, you can see how apparent your target market may become. Also, it corresponds to the Product Market and Product launch processes that I adhere too.