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How to narrow down your target market and find early-adopters in the enterprise industry?

I've been talking to a few professional workers (mostly managers) from different enterprise companies and have found a big pain. Most of their days are waste with ineffective meetings and/or working on long presentation powerpoint documents mainly focused in the shape of the presentation not the content. The thing is that problem is not an exclusivity to a narrow market. I`m a little lost to niche my market.

Filed under: SaaS - Enterprise & SMB B2B: MS Office Suite, Productivity

5 answers • 11 years ago

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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.

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Stanley Lee, Student of Making Money answered:

I've done both of these when I was fishing for SaaS business opportunities.

To narrow down the niche market, identify the key departments, type of problem, and industry verticals of target companies. The users of your solution would benefit either from $$$ or productivity point of view.

Then to find early adopters, find out who is attempting to make their own solutions already (in this case, consult the consultants who deal with your problem). You can even buy PPC ads on Facebook or work with their other vendors to see which customers are motivated and proactively looking for a solution to their problem.

Hope this helps. If you want more clarifications, let's set up a call.

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Tornike Tsiramua, 2x Startup Founder | Tech-Entrepreneur answered:

We narrowed target market by focusing on California, where sustainability adoption is high and regulations support eco-friendly travel. We have interview about 30 people. We identified corporate travel managers, eco-conscious travel agencies, and business travelers as key early adopters. Through customer interviews, we validated their pain points, such as the need for carbon-tracking tools and AI-powered trip optimization. We engaged with eco-friendly hotels, corporate travel departments, and sustainable travel agencies to test our solution. Early adopters were those already prioritizing sustainability and willing to experiment with new AI tools.

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Joy Broto Nath , Global Corporate Trainer & Strategist answered:

Narrowing down your target market and identifying early adopters in the enterprise industry is a strategic process that requires a blend of research, analysis, and agile marketing. Start by segmenting the broader market into distinct categories based on industry, company size, and specific pain points that your product addresses. Conduct thorough market research to understand the needs, challenges, and technological readiness of these segments, paying particular attention to those who are already innovating—these are your potential early adopters. Utilize tools like surveys, focus groups, and social media analytics to gather insights, and tap into platforms like LinkedIn to identify thought leaders and influencers within your chosen segments. Attend industry conferences and networking events where you can engage with potential customers and collect feedback on your solutions. By creating detailed buyer personas that encapsulate the motivations and behaviors of these early adopters, you can refine your messaging and marketing strategies, thereby increasing your chances of achieving a successful market entry. Remember that fostering relationships with these early adopters can also lead to valuable testimonials and case studies that further validate your offering to the wider market.

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Reecha Singh, I Help Brands Hit Their First $1M! answered:

start by identifying who feels the pain most acutely and has the budget & authority to adopt new solutions.

Segment by Industry & Role: Not all enterprise teams are equally affected. Are strategy teams, sales teams, or executive assistants the most impacted? Focus on industries where high-stakes presentations are frequent (consulting, finance, tech).

Look for High Urgency Use Cases: Who loses the most productivity due to inefficient meetings and deck-building? Teams under pressure to deliver rapid insights—like investor relations, sales, or C-suite reporting—are ideal early adopters.

Leverage Warm Intros & Existing Frustrations: Re-engage those managers you've spoken to and probe deeper: Who in their org struggles the most? Would they pay for a solution today?

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