The 5 Questions Every Founder Should Answer Before Launch…
Most startups don’t fail because of bad execution.
They fail because the founder never got clarity on the fundamentals.
Before you build, launch, or pitch anything, you should be able to answer these five questions with confidence.
1. Who exactly is this for?
“Everyone” is not a target market.
The more specific you are, the stronger your positioning becomes.
Instead of:
“This is for small businesses.”
Try:
“This is for solo service-based founders earning $0–$100k who struggle with lead generation.”
Clarity here makes marketing, pricing, and product decisions 10x easier.
2. What painful problem are you solving?
People don’t buy products.
They buy solutions to problems they already care about.
Ask yourself:
What keeps my customer awake at night?
What costs them time, money, or stress?
What happens if they don’t solve this problem?
If the consequences are mild, the buying urgency will be too.
3. Why is your solution different or better?
You don’t need to be revolutionary.
You just need to be meaningfully better in one clear way.
That might be:
Faster
Simpler
Cheaper
More personalised
More specialised for a niche
If you can’t clearly articulate this, your customers won’t understand it either.
4. How will you make money (and when)?
Too many founders treat monetisation as an afterthought.
You should know:
What you’re charging
Why that price makes sense
How many customers you need to be profitable
A business model doesn’t have to be perfect - but it does have to exist.
5. How will you get your first 100 customers?
If your answer is “social media” or “ads,” that’s not a strategy.
You need a concrete, testable plan such as:
Partnerships
Cold outreach
Communities
Content
Workshops
Referrals
Your first customers will almost never come from where you expect.
Final thought
You don’t need a 40-page business plan.
But you do need clarity on these five things.
If you can’t answer them confidently, your next step isn’t building it’s thinking.
