Whether it was by luck or skill, every successful small-business owner I know has found the same thing:

a product category where there was a lot of demand.

What does demand look like, practically?

It’s people *already in motion.*

They’re already searching.
They’re already thinking about it.
They’re already trying to solve the problem.

Increasingly, I think the idea of “build an audience before you build your product” is misguided.

An audience is *helpful* for launching into a category, but isn’t enough on its own.

You need true market momentum.

Purchase-intent usually shows itself as "potential customers searching for a solution."

Recognizing that demand, and later, creating supply, doesn't necessarily require you to have an audience.

Sometimes, having an audience can *work against you* because it gives you false-positives when you launch something new.

(This has happened to me) https://twitter.com/seanwes/status/1300121861796241410