Two simple steps to figuring out your ideal client as a female entrepreneur
Last week, I sent 21 Ideas for what to do next when you don't know what to do next as a female business owner.
This week, it's been on my radar to share another powerful resource to use in your business. I call it the Buyer Persona Matrix and it’s a tool that helps you nail down exactly what type of person you’re best fit to serve.
How to figure out your ideal client
One of the toughest challenges I faced early in my business was figuring out what customer was a good fit for me. I still had the mindset that I could and should be able to serve EVERYONE.
I know, we all go through this mindset. We're hard up for those first few customers to prove our businesses can somehow work, so we aim to cast a wide net thinking that any customer is better than none.
And for a while, that's okay. Until you want to create more momentum in your business. That means getting more ideal clients through your doors without spending most of your time prospecting. When your message works, you don’t have to convince people to work with you. It happens naturally because your marketing copy clearly defines how you meet their needs.
What I didn't realize early in business is when my message was so broad that it applied to everyone, no one actually understood how I could help meet their needs with my offerings.
Figuring out your ideal client is a two step process:
Download the Buyer Persona Matrix.
Fill out details about what kind of person is a good fit for your offering.
Meet my idea clients, Dolly, Pearl, and Fiona
Enter stage left: DIY Dolly, Passionate Pearl, and Full-Scale Fiona. These are my ride or dies.
I pushed myself through the unfamiliar process of figuring out my ideal clients. It was uncomfortable because no one actually showed me how to do it but I had researched enough to know I was missing the mark by trying to speak to everyone.
Two years into business, I began by looking at what kind of customers I had figured out how to work with and what their ideal journey looks like as business owners. I knew my clients started somewhere starting their own businesses. I also remembered back to what my own start up journey looked like.
Then, I studied clients who were a few steps ahead of the startup phase. I watched what systems and processes they had figured out in their businesses and how they managed to generate revenue. I looked especially at their unmet needs to understand what kind of offering would simplify running a small business for them. I also looked at their strengths compared to my own to understand how I could compliment what they were already doing well.
Next, I looked at women who seemed to have figured it out. I studied what their lifestyles looked like, how they made decisions, and what unmet needs looked like at their stage of business.
Now, I've even crafted my offerings based on what these ideal clients need to build the business on their hearts at the stage of entrepreneurship they're in.
Female Small Business Owners
DIY Dolly is just getting started. She has a dream on her heart and she's trying to figure out how she'll make it work. She's reading *all the things* on the internet, downloading lots of free guides, and has told very few people about her business. She's in the very beginning stages. DIY Dolly is all of us at one point in our journey. Dream, Build, Grow: A Female's Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business was written specifically for Dolly.
Passionate Pearl has built proof of concept in her business. She's making it happen! She has one foot "in" and one foot "on" her business. She's the revenue producer, the bookkeeper, the sales associate, and everything in between. She's generating revenue, but she also has lots of room to grow with getting processes in order to build an asset, not a paycheck. She typically uses contractors and has few if any employees. Our Founding Females Mastermind and Business Bootcamp is perfect for Pearl because they surround Pearl with the relationships and resources to build business momentum.
Full-Scale Fiona is a powerhouse. She's strategic and has gathered lots of business wisdom through trial and error, relationship building, and hard earned lessons. She moves the chess pieces in her business strategically and she's on her way to scaling a business that doesn't require her 24 hours every day. The Mastermind is also great for Fiona, as well as 1:1 and group mentoring options.
Get crystal clear on your ideal clients
If you'd like to get clear on your ideal clients, this Buyer Persona Matrix will help you do exactly that. It's free for you to use (you're already on my email list, so all you have to do is click!).
The matrix will guide you on how to get crystal clear on your ideal client so you can craft a message that deeply resonates with how your offerings meet their needs. A specific message crafted for a specific person equals cutting through the noisy space to reach the people you were meant to serve.
Need help figuring out your ideal clients?
By the way, we cover figuring out your ideal client in detail in our upcoming Business Bootcamp, a six-week program about the basics of creating a small business that we run twice each year.
If you'd like guidance on whether you're doing it correctly, I'll be there leading the six week Business Bootcamp to help every step of the way so you can reach the people you were meant to serve, who bring joy to your work because your valuable offering makes a huge difference in their lives.
The Bootcamp wait list is building and space is capped at 20 people. Click to be notified when the Bootcamp doors open.
Nailing down your ideal client brings a sense of peace to business ownership because you know that every piece of content you create is intentionally crafted to resonate with those clients you were meant to serve.
Female Business Resources
Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business (with free access to the resource suite)
Free Download: How to create your ideal client avatars with a downloadable Buyer Persona Matrix
Related Articles for Female Entrepreneurs
Staycation for Entrepreneurs: 3 Reasons I book a hotel alone every year
4 Habits Every Business Owner Needs to Build a Successful Business
Meet the author, Francie Hinrichsen
Francie Hinrichsen the founder of Founding Females®. She is a business sage empowering female entrepreneurs to breathe life into the business dreams God called them to.
After feeling like a misfit in the corporate world, Francie discovered a life she loved waking up to through business ownership.
Francie is the author of Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business, a guided journal helping hundreds of women start and grow their businesses.
She’s a passionate entrepreneurship hype girl, female leader, public speaker, and community enthusiast.
Her MBA and 10 years in a corporate career and in business ownership positioned her to teach women forward-thinking strategies for starting and growing successful businesses.
As a community leader, Francie realized other women could thrive with the right guidance and support. She created the Founding Females® Mastermind Community that provides a safe space for women to build better businesses.
She believes that anyone with a dream on their heart can pull up a seat to change the world through entrepreneurship.
About Founding Females®
The mission of Founding Females® is to help build a better future for female entrepreneurs through education, encouragement, and shared wisdom. We create safe spaces for women to share business challenges and receive peer support.
In addition, Founding Females offers an online female business mastermind, a how-to guidebook for female entrepreneurs called Dream, Build, Grow: A Female’s Step-by-Step Guide for How to Start a Business, and in-person events, like an annual women’s business conference and local Founding Females Meet Ups.
