“Find a problem big enough that people want to become your customers now, NOT later.”
Master this box and the right buyer stops saying “neat idea” and starts saying “that’s exactly me — when can I buy?”
Which box is holding you back from reaching $1,000,000?
START HERE
You’ve built a vitamin, not a painkiller.
People say “interesting,” “neat,” “cool idea” — never “that’s exactly me, when can I buy?” That’s not a pitch problem. It’s a problem problem, and “later” usually turns into never.
→ Be honest: are you selling a painkiller, or a vitamin?
DO THE WORK
Play Problem Bingo™.
Score your problem against the six characteristics of a problem worth solving:
1–2 = vitamin · 3 or more = painkiller
Then prove it in one sentence so specific the right buyer says “that’s me” — the Seven-Part Problem Statement names who has the problem, what it costs them, and why everything they’ve tried falls short.
“Buyers won’t spend $50 to solve a $100 problem. They WILL spend $50 to solve a $500 problem.”
1–2 = vitamin · 3 or more = painkiller
YOU’RE READY
You can state the problem in one sentence — with a dollar cost attached.
When the right buyer hears it and says “that’s me,” you’ve mastered Box 1. Move on to Bifurcation.
IN THE RESTAURANT EXAMPLE
Restaurant scheduling conflicts score 5 out of 6.
Urgent ✓ (happens this week) · Popular ✓ (every manager) · Growing ✓ (staff turnover rising) · Frequent ✓ (weekly) · Mandatory ✗ (they can limp along) · Expensive ✓ ($800/month). Score: 5/6 — a clear painkiller. Compare “restaurants want better branding”: 1/6 — a vitamin. And the number the owner led with: scheduling conflicts cost $800 a month in overtime — $9,600 a year.
THE THREE BIGGEST MISTAKES
SKIP
Guess the problem instead of testing candidates — you build on a foundation that isn’t there.
SHORTCUT
Name a problem but never attach a dollar cost — false urgency instead of proven pain.
STUMBLE
You describe the problem in your own words instead of the words your customer actually uses — so it never lands as “that’s exactly me.”