Do you really have product-market fit?

The term “product-market fit” has become a bit of an obscure moniker in the product world. It is the end goal we all want to hit — the line by which we define ourselves as successful. What many don’t realise though, is that product-market fit isn’t a static point in time — it is ever-evolving and changing.

With this in mind, one almost has to ask: do you really have a product-market fit?

Let’s take a look at what PMF really means and how you can work with it in order to build successful products.

Defining your market

The biggest challenge when building a product and business is to define who your market actually is, and when the time actually is to move into a new one.

You may be experiencing some of the following:

• Lead generation is hard.
• Inbound leads are difficult to acquire.
• Conversion rate in the market is low
• People in your market have no idea who you are.

If that is the case, let’s face the inevitable: you do not have a strong product-market fit.

Ambition often comes to the detriment of customer value — and our ambition to expand our market share more often than not results in over-bloated products that spin out of control and stop serving anyone.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, this is an opportunity to take a step back and reassess. Now is the time to niche down and do one thing right instead of trying to do it all.

So how do we do that? Simple. Start by outlining who you are going after and why. Focus on your current market to close the product momentum gap. Do you truly understand the context in which they find your product useful?

Closing the Product Momentum Gap

Context is important. This is why I often like to refer to product-market fit as product-context fit.

There is a specific context in which your product is providing value, but if the context changes — what then?

It is important not to mix up early sales with having hit the PMF goal post. In his book Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey A. Moore describes…