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SaaS - Enterprise & SMB B2B: How to narrow down your target market and find early-adopters in the enterprise industry?
VP
VP
Varun Prasad, DesignOps Consultant for B2B SaaS answered:

I help B2B SaaS founders optimise their product experience and delivery by implementing scalable design systems and improving cross-team collaboration—so I spend a lot of time working with enterprise teams that struggle with inefficiencies, bloated processes, and fractured communication. What you’ve described—managers stuck in ineffective meetings or endlessly polishing decks—is a very real and widespread pain. I’ve seen it play out inside product, design, and marketing teams across industries.

But here’s the key: just because the problem is widespread doesn’t mean the solution needs to serve everyone. In fact, early traction only comes when you pick a narrow slice and go deep.

🎯 How to Narrow Down Your Market & Spot Early Adopters
1. Don’t Niche by Industry—Niche by Pain Context
Instead of looking at departments like "enterprise finance" or "enterprise healthcare," try narrowing by the context in which the pain is most intense.

Ask:
• Who really suffers from wasted time due to meetings/decks?
• Where is that wasted time measurable and costly?
• Who is actively trying to solve this problem (hacking Notion, trying AI, etc.)?

You’re not looking for everyone with the problem—you’re looking for people actively looking for a fix.

2. Find the “Time Poor + Change Ready” Personas
Inside large companies, there are people who:
• Know their time is being wasted
• Are frustrated with legacy tools and politics
• Have the power (or budget) to test new tools or ideas

These are usually middle managers in fast-moving teams like:
• Innovation or strategy departments
• Internal design or product teams
• Marketing leads under pressure to ship faster

These are your early adopters—they’re more open to new ways of working than someone buried deep in traditional ops.

3. Validate by Framing the Pain, Not the Solution
Instead of pitching “a tool that fixes meetings/presentations,” start conversations like:

“Have you noticed how much time your team spends refining slides vs refining thinking?”
“What have you tried to make meetings feel less performative and more productive?”

This lets you spot the most engaged, pain-aware leads. Early adopters will lean in and share their workarounds or frustrations.

4. Start Narrow—You Can Always Expand Later
Traction is a byproduct of focus. Once you land 3–5 early adopters with shared traits, then you can look for lateral markets. Think of it as bowling pins: knock down one first, use it to knock down the rest.

🤝 Want Help Finding Your First 5 Ideal Users?
If you want help refining your positioning, identifying your “change-ready” personas inside enterprise, or validating your offer with the right language—I’d be happy to walk you through it on a quick 1:1 strategy call.

📅 Book here: https://clarity.fm/varunprasad

Let’s turn vague interest into early traction.

Talk to Varun Upvote • Share
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