Stop guessing your offer

Last week, I shared the first five filters I use before committing to a consulting business idea—things like founder–idea fit, difficulty level, speed to first dollar, market demand, and access to buyers.

If you missed it, go back and read that first. Those five alone will eliminate most weak ideas.

Today, let’s cover the other five filters—the ones that help you sharpen, position, and pressure-test your idea before the market does.

Filter 6 — Niching Down

When you’re starting out, the instinct is to stay broad.

“I help businesses with marketing.”
“I do strategy for companies.”

The problem? No one sees themselves in that.

Specificity creates clarity—and clarity converts.

Instead of trying to serve everyone, define:

• A clear segment of an industry
• A clear problem
• A clear outcome

The more precise you are, the easier it becomes for the right client to say, “This is exactly what I need.”

Filter 7 — Ride the Wave

Not all ideas are equal. Some benefit from momentum already happening in the market.

Think about shifts like:

• AI adoption
• Data privacy regulations
• Remote and hybrid work

When your offer aligns with a growing trend, you’re not pushing uphill—you’re riding existing demand.

Timing matters more than most people think.

Filter 8 — Boring is Bountiful

The most profitable ideas are rarely the most exciting.

Everyone wants to work on strategy, branding, or innovation.
Fewer people want to deal with compliance, reporting, or operations.

But those “boring” problems?
They’re consistent. They’re painful. And companies pay to fix them.

In my own journey, some of the highest-margin work came from simple, repeatable services that weren’t flashy—but were essential.

Filter 9 — Ecosystem Leverage

Starting from zero is slow.

But when you align your services with an existing platform or ecosystem (e.g. HubSpot), you tap into built-in demand.

You don’t need to convince the market that the problem exists.
You just need to position yourself as someone who can solve it.

This dramatically shortens your path to traction.

Filter 10 — Stress Test

Before you commit, pressure-test the idea.

Ask:

• What could go wrong?
• How long can I sustain this if revenue is slow?
• What dependencies or bottlenecks exist?

This isn’t about being pessimistic.
It’s about being prepared.

Because optimism without a plan won’t carry you very far.