A friend was talking to me about how to find their ideal customer profile for their new consulting business. In other words, who are they best placed to help? Here are some thoughts I had, which I think are generally applicable.

The question of finding an ICP is one that all of us face throughout building a business, right? I do stand behind the belief that having one is a superpower. Everything from designing solutions to marketing the business and selling it will be easier the more defined you can be about who you're helping.

But I think there are myriad ways to approach the challenge of identifying who that person is.

For example, could you think of it in terms of the most urgent problem you yourself are looking to solve? In other words, is there a way to niche down on the problem rather than the person?

Another way of looking at it is to think about people or roles specifically. Maybe even thinking about particular sectors. Do you have any strong urges to help people in hospitality vs education vs SaaS entrepreneurship vs vertical farming, for example?

Yet another way to approach the question of an ICP could be their worldview. Do you feel yourself called to help liberals or conservatives? Religious people or agnostic people? Youthful ambition or ageing wisdom? Do you find yourself called to help people who identify as creative or who identify as analytical?

There are so many ways to think about it.

The other thing to bear in mind, which I'm sure you already know, is that often clarity emerges in the rear view mirror. That is, after you have worked with 5–10 clients, you will have a better idea of who your ICP is at that point.

One tactical idea to potentially explore, if you haven't already, is: If you're having fun building out solutions for yourself, could you get into the habit of sharing daily updates about what you're building and what you're learning? You could post this on Substack, LinkedIn, or any other platform and wait for interested people to like, comment, share, or reply to you. That would be as good a mechanism as any at finding the specific people who you're best-placed to help.

What do you think? What have I missed?