Why your business should achieve Product Market Fit
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:32 am
Translated into Spanish, Product Market Fit means “product adjustment to the market” and it is about how much a product or service identifies with a segment and satisfies its customer demand effectively. Find out how to make yours!
Have you ever wondered how companies manage to “meet” the needs of their buyer persona (ideal client)? Perhaps a beginning answer can be found in the concept of Product Market Fit (PMF) .
In this article we are going to tell you what the PMF is, how to create one in your business step by step and give you examples so that you can better understand the concept.
Once you have defined your brand's Product Market Fit , we invite you to put it into action in your own online business. To do so, take advantage of the benefits offered by Tiendanube , the leading platform in Latin America for creating online stores quickly and safely. Easier than you imagine!
Boost your brand by creating your own online store.
What is Product Market Fit?
Product Market Fit is the ability of a product phone database to perform in a given market to satisfy the needs and desires of a specific audience.
The translation of product market fit would be “product-market fit”, so it is about finding the right combination between what a business offers and what the market it targets wants and needs.
This concept was popularized in 2007 by entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, who defined it as “being in a market with a solution that fits.” Short and clear.
You can sense when Product Market Fit isn't happening: customers aren't getting value from the product, word of mouth isn't spreading, usage of that product isn't growing as fast as expected, and many sales aren't closing.
Marc Andreessen
We could say that achieving Product Market Fit is a healthy indicator for a business, as it shows that it had the ability to correctly identify the needs of its audience. It created an effective and, above all, profitable product or service.
Read more: 44 profitable small businesses to easily start
How to make a Product Market Fit?
Although there are different methodologies to find and validate a product or service before launching it on the market, the one most used by companies internationally is Lean Product Process .
This methodology consists of a 6-step framework that focuses on creating products or services through rapid iterations (key to saving time), while collecting customer feedback to adjust and improve that product or service.
Graphically, the Lean Product Process looks like this:
Lean Product Process methodology to create a Product Market Fit.
Source: The Lean Product Playbook.
Step 1: Define your buyer persona
Who is your product or service targeted at? What are that person's needs and desires? How do they make purchasing decisions? The first step to achieving Product Market Fit is to define your ideal customer, to understand who you are going to speak to and from what perspective.
Step 2: Identify your “unmet” needs
When creating a new product or service, it makes more sense to aim to solve the unmet needs of your buyer persona than to satisfy needs already covered by other brands.
This is an interesting way to create an innovative product or service, as well as to aim for the differentiation of your business.
How can you identify these unmet needs? Here are some tools:
Conduct a competitor analysis : Look at your competitors and the solutions they provide in the market. Identify what they are not offering and use this as a starting point for developing your product or service.
Interview your buyer persona – This is a great way to get first-hand information about their desires. This will help you understand what they are looking for/needing. You can ask them open-ended questions to identify opportunities for new products or services.
Look at social media and niche forums : This is a great source of data, as you can read opinions about what exists on the market, but does not fully meet the needs. What is it that is trying to solve? Here may be the answer to innovate with your solution!
tip: Learn the steps to perform a market analysis to better understand your target audience, consumers, competition, and industry.
Have you ever wondered how companies manage to “meet” the needs of their buyer persona (ideal client)? Perhaps a beginning answer can be found in the concept of Product Market Fit (PMF) .
In this article we are going to tell you what the PMF is, how to create one in your business step by step and give you examples so that you can better understand the concept.
Once you have defined your brand's Product Market Fit , we invite you to put it into action in your own online business. To do so, take advantage of the benefits offered by Tiendanube , the leading platform in Latin America for creating online stores quickly and safely. Easier than you imagine!
Boost your brand by creating your own online store.
What is Product Market Fit?
Product Market Fit is the ability of a product phone database to perform in a given market to satisfy the needs and desires of a specific audience.
The translation of product market fit would be “product-market fit”, so it is about finding the right combination between what a business offers and what the market it targets wants and needs.
This concept was popularized in 2007 by entrepreneur Marc Andreessen, who defined it as “being in a market with a solution that fits.” Short and clear.
You can sense when Product Market Fit isn't happening: customers aren't getting value from the product, word of mouth isn't spreading, usage of that product isn't growing as fast as expected, and many sales aren't closing.
Marc Andreessen
We could say that achieving Product Market Fit is a healthy indicator for a business, as it shows that it had the ability to correctly identify the needs of its audience. It created an effective and, above all, profitable product or service.
Read more: 44 profitable small businesses to easily start
How to make a Product Market Fit?
Although there are different methodologies to find and validate a product or service before launching it on the market, the one most used by companies internationally is Lean Product Process .
This methodology consists of a 6-step framework that focuses on creating products or services through rapid iterations (key to saving time), while collecting customer feedback to adjust and improve that product or service.
Graphically, the Lean Product Process looks like this:
Lean Product Process methodology to create a Product Market Fit.
Source: The Lean Product Playbook.
Step 1: Define your buyer persona
Who is your product or service targeted at? What are that person's needs and desires? How do they make purchasing decisions? The first step to achieving Product Market Fit is to define your ideal customer, to understand who you are going to speak to and from what perspective.
Step 2: Identify your “unmet” needs
When creating a new product or service, it makes more sense to aim to solve the unmet needs of your buyer persona than to satisfy needs already covered by other brands.
This is an interesting way to create an innovative product or service, as well as to aim for the differentiation of your business.
How can you identify these unmet needs? Here are some tools:
Conduct a competitor analysis : Look at your competitors and the solutions they provide in the market. Identify what they are not offering and use this as a starting point for developing your product or service.
Interview your buyer persona – This is a great way to get first-hand information about their desires. This will help you understand what they are looking for/needing. You can ask them open-ended questions to identify opportunities for new products or services.
Look at social media and niche forums : This is a great source of data, as you can read opinions about what exists on the market, but does not fully meet the needs. What is it that is trying to solve? Here may be the answer to innovate with your solution!
tip: Learn the steps to perform a market analysis to better understand your target audience, consumers, competition, and industry.