Whether or not customers are willing to pay you to address their problems will have a significant impact on the success of your business.
The term for this is “product/market fit.”
The main cause of almost 40% of businesses failing is that they weren’t able to meet PMF.
Here are 2 instances of how 2 students attained PMF prior to launching their businesses:
#1. Jennifer enjoyed writing essays, so when her roommate requested her to write a paper, it became an issue.
Jennifer was unable to assist because she was too busy writing a book review.
The roommate was so pushy that she even made a $20 (=ready to pay) offer to Jennifer.
She got the idea to write papers for cash as a result.
She started to employ other writers when she had more clients than she could handle. This is the origin of EssayService.
#2. As a graduate student, Gilboa couldn’t afford to repair his glasses after losing them on a backpacking trip (issue + willing to pay less).
After some investigation, he was startled to learn that glasses were typically marked up 10 to 20 times the cost of manufacture (=possibility to pay less).
Gilboa connected with Neil Blumenthal, a classmate, and the two collaborated to start a less expensive eyewear business.
With the sale of over a million pairs of eyeglasses, Warby Parker has raised more than $200 million.
Source : www.businessworld.ie