10 marketing decisions you should make before building a business

Hey, Indie Hackers! I'm Sveta, co-founder of FounderPal and MakerBox. I've been bootstrapping businesses for 2 years and launched 10+ products.

I know that the most challenging part of being an indie hacker is to become profitable as soon as possible. It is hard (especially if it's your first try). But if you make 10 marketing decisions before building a product, you'll have higher chances to succeed and create something people are willing to pay for.

10 marketing questions you need to cover:

1. Segment — What is your CORE target audience segment?
2. Problem — What is ONE problem you want to focus on?
3. Positioning — What BENEFITS will you sell to your audience?
4. Differentiation — How is your solution different and UNIQUE?
5. Status-quo — What NEMESIS will you fight in your marketing?
6. Competitors — How is your product better than other ALTERNATIVES?
7. Activation — How will people understand that your product/service is AWESOME?
8. Pricing — What PRICE will your target audience pay for your solution?
9. Traction — How will you get your FIRST 10 paying customers?
10. Scale — What marketing channel is suitable for SUSTAINABLE growth?

I know it's difficult to answer all the questions before having an actual product. But believe me, it's better to spend some time brainstorming this in the beginning. Overwise, you'll risk building a product people don't need.

To make it easier for founders, we launched a simple and free AI-powered tool that will help you answer all 10 questions.

Would love to get your feedback on this tool!