How Do I Know If The Problem My Business Is Solving Is Narrow Enough?

This is a great question because it’s really simple and so is the answer. If the problem you’re solving has a solution then it’s narrow enough. See, simple right? Thanks for reading! 

Okay, you know I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that! For this question, you need to think about whether or not you’re able to provide a solution to the problem you’re solving. So for example, say you do diversity, equity, inclusion work, and the problem you’re solving is racism. I think we all know that problem is really big. I mean…it’s racism, there’s no one size fits all solution to racism. So that would be a problem that I would say is not narrow enough.

Now you could narrow down that problem by getting specific around how you define the problem. Yes, the problem is racism, more specifically, how does racism manifest and what does it look like? And if you pull from that problem and narrow things down even more, your solution could be providing educators with the skills to interrogate their own biases and evolve their identity development or further their identity development. 

That is an example of narrowing the problem, and this would be a great problem to solve because as educators, we don't always have access to quality learning experiences that provide us with the space needed to interrogate the ways in which we’ve inhaled racism within our society. Without that space, we won’t be able to interrogate our own identity development and how that shapes our perspective or creates blind spots.

When you want to work on narrowing the problem in your own business, I’d recommend that when thinking about the problem you’ve identified in your business, you take a step back and think about if this is something, that when you articulate the solution for it, it still feels aligned to the problem.

Something else I want to share is that another strategy to narrowing your problem is to narrow your audience. So let’s say that you provide professional development to school leaders, but do you provide PD to all school leaders or do you work with predominantly school leaders of color, who are in years 1-4, who work in large urban school districts or maybe charter networks? You see how those audience qualifiers can narrow the problem you’re solving even more? 

I hope this is helpful for you when you’re thinking about the problem your business is solving. I’d say, go with your gut when you’re choosing what problem you want to solve (you can always change your mind!) and then think about the solutions you can provide. If that doesn’t get you enough clarity, then move to thinking about your audience to give you a clear picture of the problem you’re solving and who you’re solving it for and with!

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