The Most Underrated Step in Your Business

There's a step that is one of the most underrated in a solopreneur’s journey. Most people overlook it, skip it, or either assume it’s too basic or that their business isn’t big enough to need it.

And it's the one I come back to again and again with clients who are stuck, unsure which direction to go, or about to spend money they don't need to spend just yet.

Ready for it? It’s market research.

Not the kind you're thinking of. Not the business school exercise done behind a desk, with data analysis and reports and grand recommendations on market size and problem need. You’re not making a slide deck with your Total Addressable Market.

I'm talking about something much simpler, and much more powerful: talking to people.

I had a clarity call this week that reminded me of just how important this is.

Here's what I mean

Maria came to the call ready to get serious about her health coaching business. She has deep scientific expertise in her field, a track record of real results, and two clear directions she could take her business. She was willing to invest, already thinking about loans and dipping into savings.

Maria is also looking to relocate her client base from Southern Europe to the Netherlands, and wonders: will people in the Netherlands pay for her coaching service? If so, what are they willing to invest in? The culture around paying for additional health services in the Netherlands is quite different than in Southern Europe.

And underneath all of it, she was overwhelmed by the volume of what she felt she didn't know yet. Marketing, branding, pricing, culture, positioning... with one foundational question running through all of it: where do I even start?

So I gave her one piece of homework: Before she hired anyone, before she built anything, before she spent a single euro she needed to spend the summer talking to the people she wants to help. Not pitching, not selling, just asking and listening.

Those conversations don't need to be complicated. Twenty or thirty minutes each. In exchange, offer them twenty or thirty minutes of your expertise. Keep it simple, keep it curious, and fight the urge to come in with solutions. 

You'll know you have enough when you start hearing the same things over and over. If you haven't gotten to that point yet, you can always schedule more.

Start with the person, not the product

Here's why this kind of market research is critical in the early stages of a business. Most people who transition from employee to solopreneur lead with the deliverable. So they are buidling the thing (roadmap, report, design, etc...) before they've really understood the person they want to help. 

The market research conversation flips that. Instead of building something and hoping people want it, you build something because you know they do.

You use their words, not yours. You describe their problem so specifically that when they read your website or your LinkedIn post, they think: that's me. She gets it.

That feeling, being seen and understood, is what makes someone trust you enough to buy.

And here's the best part: it's free. There's no tool to buy, no agency to hire, no course to take. It's just time and curiosity. For someone like Maria, who was ready to take out a loan, that mental reframe matters.

The most important investment she can make right now costs nothing except her time and a willingness to listen and learn.

A few questions worth asking in these conversations:

• What's the biggest challenge you're facing right now in this area?

• Where do you currently go for help with this?

• What have you tried that hasn't worked?

• What would need to be true for you to invest in solving this?

You're listening for two things

First, what do they actually want. This isn't the surface request, but the core change they're hoping for.

Second, the specific words they use to describe their situation. The phrases that make you think: I need to write that down. Those words, used back to them in your marketing, are priceless. They're also what shapes your offer into something that solves a real problem, not a hypothetical one.

Maria is going into the summer with a plan that costs her nothing but conversations. What she comes back with in September will be worth more than any investment she could have made today.

If you're stuck on your offer, unsure which direction to go, or about to spend money on your business, ask yourself: have I actually talked to the people I want to help? If the answer is no, that's your next step.