Why early-stage startups should better start from a narrow focus, and how?

Hi indie hackers, this is Morgan, founder of Gemoo.

Recently, I'm reflecting on my journey with my current project, and realized one mistake I made: start too big and heavy. (If you'd like to know, Gemoo is aiming at online communication and collaboration, which is a huge market with a wide range of potential customers, this sounds good but actually causes me big trouble.)

This caused me to face with the challenge of deciding where to focus my efforts. With limited resources and a desire to make an impact, it can be tempting to try to tackle multiple market segments or product offerings at once.

Lesson learned: as a startup, I should have started from a narrow focus.

Why?
Having a large market is undoubtedly important. However, a large market often translates to intense competition. It’s crucial to recognize that new startups face significant challenges when trying to cover all target groups and compete with established players in the market.

Instead of trying to compete with the big guys in the market, new startups should focus on identifying a specific market segment that they can serve better than their competitors.

What could happen if you don’t?
Take me as an example, Gemoo was initially designed for almost everybody who has a need for online communication. Therefore, in the design stage, we did not design functions and scenarios that are more suitable for a certain group of people. When the product was ready, we soon realized that we don’t know where to start pitching because it’s too broad to nail down a specific focus.

So, we faced with the troubles of:

• Lack of clarity: You can’t be all things to all people, when you try to appeal to everyone, you normally end up appealing to no one.
• Resource drain: Trying to do too much at once can lead to a drain on resources, including time, money, and manpower.
• Difficulty in scaling: Without a clear focus, it can be difficult to maintain consistency and quality as the business expands.

How to start from a narrow focus?

• Identify a specific area: Focusing on a specific area that aligns with your core mission and goals. This could be a particular industry, market segment, or customer demographic.
• Conduct market research: Understanding the needs, pain points, and preferences of your target audience. This helps you to tailor your products to meet their specific needs.
• Segment your market and deliver the message: Divide your target market into smaller groups based on shared characteristics, such as demographics or behaviors. Then deliver marketing messages that speak directly to each segment of your target market, addressing their specific needs and interests.
• Test and refine your approach: Continuously monitor and evaluate your marketing efforts to see what’s working and what’s not, and make adjustments as needed.

It took me several months to comprehend this strategy, and I am now adjusting my approach accordingly. Check here to see my complete learnings on this subject.

What's your take on this? I'm still learning while doing, and would really love to know your ideas.