In this morning’s article, Professor Paritish Sharma of Bada Business explains a ‘beachhead market,’ which is one of the many important strategies that a startup needs for it to be successful. A beachhead market is a needed concept to be understood in order to create a successful foundation for any business undertaking.

Key Note #1: The History of the Beachhead Market

The word ‘beachhead’ comes from the military, particularly relating to the use of a strategy during wartime. The concept is simple but potent: There is a powerful nation planning an action offensively againts an enemy country. The first step involves positioning troops at the beach area inorder to establish a ‘beachhead’. From the ‘beachhead’, soldiers are able to capture the area and act as a rilay point onward.

The same goes for the beachhead market that is tried to be created. The term beachhead as it applies to startups refers to a particular market segment that has the potential to capture and dominate. This position allows a business to later expand to other adjacent markets as the business grows.

Golden Statement:“Neglecting one or several market segments increases the value effort & value customer interactions.”

As an entrepreneur, chasing many markets at once may be tempting. But also, chasing everything at once tends to shatter dreams. First, you must conquer one market – the beachhead market. With this approach, you continuously improve your product or service, gain knowledge from failures, and prepare for the future.

Key Note #2: Grasping the Theory of Beachhead Market

A beachhead market is a strategically chosen segment of the market where a company plans to fight and win competition dominantly. It’s not a question of the market’s magnitude, but whether a foothold can be established within a particular segment. The primary characteristics of a beachhead market include:

Concentrate on Dominating One Market:

The objective is to dominate at least one segment, no matter how minute. Once attained, this position enables movement to a neighboring market.

Small starts, large impact:

The beachhead market commences with a unfavorable low angle. Nonetheless, it allows company experimentation, swift customer feedback collect, and product or service fine-tuning.

Learning from Failures:

Beginning with a small niche market allows you space to fail and learn at the same time. A small scale failure is more easily recoverable than a large scale failure.

A Stepping Stone to Expansion:

After having achieved a level of success in the beachhead market, you can start scaling into other adjacent markets with greater confidence with your refined product.

Key Note #3: Seven Steps to Define a Beachhead Market

There are seven pertinent questions you must answer when attempting to define your beachhead market. These steps are designed to funnel your chosen market into the most applicable segment.

Is the Target Customer Well-Funded?

Make sure that the specific segment of customers that you are trying to target can afford to purchase your product or service.

Is the Target Customer Readily Accessible to Your Sales Force?

It is important that your target customers can be easily reached by your sales force. If your sales team can not easily reach prospective customers, then the business model will be highly inefficient.

Does the Target Customer Have a Compelling Reason to Buy?

Determine whether these customers have a strong possibility of needing your product. A compelling customer need will result in a strong demand.

Can You Relly On Your Partners to Complete the Product?

As a new venture, you might lack the resources to deliver a complete product. Think about partnerships that can help you deliver the whole product as you grow in your operations.

Is There Persistent Competition?

Evaluate the degree of competition in your beachhead market. If there are competitors who are likely to block you, you need to prepare accordingly.

If You Win This Segment, Will You Move to Related Markets?

Make sure that winning in the beachhead market allows you to enter into other markets. You have to be able to use your position in one market to move into other markets.

Are the Market’s Needs Aligned with the Founder’s Values and Passions?

The founder’s values and passions play a great role. Starting a company and managing a startup takes a lot of effort. Having the market that needs attention should be in tandem with the team’s mission and vision.

Keyo Note #4: For How Long Do You Need to Concentrate On the Beachhead Market?

Your beachhead market is the market your business should focus on at first. Just like Arjuna’s focus on the eye of the fish in Mahabharata, your attention should be directed at a target customer in this market. Before venturing into other markets, consider the following prerequisites that must be satisfied:

Customers in the Market Must Buy Similar Products:

All customers in your beachhead market should be buying the same kind of products. It is important to avoid splitting your attention by offering too many different products at once.

Customers Have Similar Sales Cycles:

Customers in the market should have similar sales cycles. An example is B2C customers making purchasing decisions rather rapidly, as opposed to B2B customers who take a considerable amount of time.

Word of Mouth Between Customers:

Successful beachhead markets exist because of customer advocacy. If customers are willing to recommend your product to others, that is a validation that you are in the right market.

Only when these three conditions are met, should you consider leaving the beachhead market.

The Case of Facebook’s Beachhead Market

Facebook was not a massive international success when it started operating. The company’s main focus was Ivy League colleges. This focused strategy was assisted by the master schools like Harvard, MIT and Stanford as well that were included within the Beachhead market. This exclusivity made their approach really attractive. And so, Facebook was able to expand to other student universities and finally to the public.

Massive Action Plan For Entrepreneur

Accomplishing success in dominating the beachhead market requires employing the following steps:

Define Your Beachhead Market

Carry out primary research to find out which category is suitable for occupation to serve as your marketing beachhead. Analyze your possible customers’ motivation at the beachhead level.

Drill It Down to a Smalled Size

After recognizing a beachhead market, focus on it sufficiently to meet the three major requirements touched upon previously.

Conclusion

For every startup, having a beach market is crucial. When you concentrate on a particular market, you can obtain useful data, develop a good customer base and improve your product. Keep in mind, success is not achieved in a day, but if you concentrate on your beach market and comprehend the strategies detailing it, success is bound to happen in your startup experience journey.