Quote from James A.Hart on July 17, 2025, 12:00 am

If you’re building a business, the most important first step is choosing who you’re going to serve.

Sounds simple — but it’s where most people get stuck.

They spend weeks (sometimes months) overanalyzing the perfect niche. They try to guess which audience has the most spending power, or which market is trending this year. And in the end, they get nowhere.

The truth? You don’t need to get it perfect. You just need to pick someone — and move.

Start with a Big Market, Then Narrow It Down

Here’s a practical way to do it:

1. Pick a big, proven market — like fitness, beauty, pets, parenting, travel.
2. Then choose a specific subgroup within that market.

For example:

• Instead of “fitness,” you go with “fitness for dads.”
• Instead of “coffee,” you go with “coffee for biohackers.”
• Instead of “food,” you go with “condiments for the paleo community.”

Notice the pattern?
You’re not trying to invent a whole new category. You’re taking a familiar market and narrowing it down to a clearly defined group of people.

This gives you clarity. It gives your marketing focus. And it makes everything else — product ideas, messaging, branding — a lot easier.

Pick a Group You Know

Another easy way to decide:
Start with yourself.

What are the identities you strongly relate to?

Maybe you’re:

• A parent
• A runner
• A gamer
• A CrossFit fan
• A teacher
• A dog owner

Any one of those could be the foundation for a brand.

Why does this work? Because if you already understand the community — their pain points, their language, what they care about — you don’t have to guess. You can create products and messages that truly resonate.

And if not yourself, think of someone close to you:
Your spouse, your sibling, your friend. If you know them well, you can build around their identity too.

Don’t Overthink It — Just Pick One

This is where most new entrepreneurs get stuck. They hesitate to choose because they’re afraid of getting it wrong.

But the only way to move forward is to decide.

You’re not locked in forever. You can pivot later if needed. But until you pick a person, you can’t test ideas, build a landing page, or create your first product.

So here’s your first task:
Pick a niche group you want to serve. Write it down. That’s it.

Once you’ve done that, the rest of the process becomes much clearer — from validating product ideas to building an audience.

And that’s how real businesses get built.