# My starting-market record

**Founder:**  
**Product or service:**  
**Date:**  
**Review date or trigger:**  

This record helps me choose the customer group I'll concentrate on first. I can
write “I don't know yet” wherever my evidence runs out.

## 1. What I'm offering

**Product or service:**  

**Current stage:** Idea / prototype / lightweight MVP / pre-launch / live

**Result I want the customer to get:**  

**How I expect to make money:**  

**Time, money, or delivery limits I have to work within:**  

## 2. Customer groups I'm considering

I will compare no more than three groups.

### Group 1

**Group in ordinary language:**  

**Three clear details from my customer profile:**

1. Who they are or the situation they're in:  
2. What they already use, do, or pay for:  
3. What has changed recently:  

**Customer records or research supporting this group:**  

### Group 2

**Group in ordinary language:**  

**Three clear details from my customer profile:**

1. Who they are or the situation they're in:  
2. What they already use, do, or pay for:  
3. What has changed recently:  

**Customer records or research supporting this group:**  

### Group 3

**Group in ordinary language:**  

**Three clear details from my customer profile:**

1. Who they are or the situation they're in:  
2. What they already use, do, or pay for:  
3. What has changed recently:  

**Customer records or research supporting this group:**  

## 3. What customers have done

Facts go in the table. I will keep guesses in the assumptions section.

| What I'm comparing | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 | Source and date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Result customers received |  |  |  |  |
| Repeat use or retention |  |  |  |  |
| Referrals |  |  |  |  |
| Cost and time needed to find them |  |  |  |  |
| Cost and time needed to serve them |  |  |  |  |
| Specific feedback |  |  |  |  |
| How straightforward the sale was |  |  |  |  |

## 4. Payment

| Group | Who paid? | How much? | Did they know me? | What happened after payment? | Source and date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Group 1 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Group 2 |  |  |  |  |  |
| Group 3 |  |  |  |  |  |

## 5. Can the work stay consistent?

| Question | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What urgent problem do they share? |  |  |  |
| What result do they want from the product? |  |  |  |
| Which proof would they believe? |  |  |  |
| Where can I realistically find and reach them? |  |  |  |
| Can they receive roughly the same product experience? |  |  |  |
| What would need to change for this group? |  |  |  |

## 6. Rough numbers

These are ranges, with the source or assumption kept beside each number.

| Input | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Rough number of matching buyers |  |  |  |
| Source for buyer count |  |  |  |
| Plausible price |  |  |  |
| Source or reason for price |  |  |  |
| Purchases per year, where relevant |  |  |  |
| Likely cost to win one customer |  |  |  |
| Likely cost to serve one customer |  |  |  |
| Rough revenue or margin range |  |  |  |
| Is the problem pressing enough for people to act? |  |  |  |
| Could success lead to another sensible market? |  |  |  |

**Calculation used:**  
Matching buyers × plausible price × purchase frequency

**Where margin is more accurate, costs subtracted:**  

## 7. What choosing each group would change

| Work | Group 1 | Group 2 | Group 3 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Who appears on my next target list |  |  |  |
| What my page leads with |  |  |  |
| Proof I need to collect |  |  |  |
| What I would build next |  |  |  |
| Where I would find conversations |  |  |  |
| What customers compare me with |  |  |  |

## 8. My choice

**Outcome:** Choose / test / reject

**The customer group receiving my attention now:**  

**Why this group wins for now:**  

**Customer actions supporting the choice:**  

**Numbers supporting the choice:**  

**What I still don't know:**  

## 9. Groups outside the decision for now

| Group | Why it's outside for now | What would make me reconsider it? |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |
|  |  |  |

## 10. Five-person test

Complete this section when nobody in the chosen group has paid, used the
product, or taken another real action.

**The one offer all five people will receive:**  

**The smallest real version I can provide:**  

**The action that is enough to continue investigating:**  

| Person | Why they match | Source | Date invited | What they did | Follow-up needed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 2 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 3 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 4 |  |  |  |  |  |
| 5 |  |  |  |  |  |

**Result after five invitations:** Continue / review

**If nobody acted, I need to review:**

- The people I chose:  
- The problem I described:  
- The offer I made:  
- The way I contacted them:  

## 11. Customers from outside the group

| Customer | Why they bought | What they needed | Result | Time and support involved | Is the pattern repeating? |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |

## 12. When I will review the choice

**Review date, if I need one:**  

**Customer behavior that will trigger an earlier review:**  

**What would tell me to stay focused:**  

**What would justify testing another group:**  

## 13. Possible next market

**Group:**  

**Problem it shares with my starting group:**  

**What would stay the same:**  

**What would change:**  

**What I need to see before testing it:**  

## 14. Facts, assumptions, and gaps

### Facts and sources

| Fact | Source | Date checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |

### My assumptions

- 

### Conflicting information

- 

### I don't know yet

- 

## Final decision

**The group I'm concentrating on:**  

**The next customer action:**  

**The first piece of work this choice changes:**  

**The event that will make me review it:**