ABCD: A Starting Framework for Entrepreneurs

Almost every failed first business I've watched — including a couple of my own — died from the same mistake: building something before knowing who it was for. So I try to keep new ideas honest with a deliberately basic checklist, in a deliberately basic order. ABCD: Audience, Build, Charge, Distribute.

A — Audience first

Start with a specific group of people and a problem they genuinely feel. Not "everyone," not "small businesses" — a real, nameable audience whose pain you understand. Get this wrong and nothing downstream can save you.

B — Build the smallest thing that helps

Only once you know the audience do you build — and even then, the smallest possible version that actually solves the problem. The goal isn't a finished product; it's evidence that someone cares.

C — Charge early

Ask for money sooner than feels comfortable. A price is the only honest test of whether you've built something valuable. "People love it" means little; "people paid for it" means everything. Charging early also spares you from politely worded feedback that would never survive a checkout page.

D — Distribution is the real job

The part founders romanticise least and need most. A great product nobody hears about loses to a mediocre one with a distribution engine. Figure out how people will reliably find you — and treat that as a core part of the business, not an afterthought bolted on at the end.

The order is the whole point. Audience, build, charge, distribute. Do it in that sequence and you avoid the most expensive mistake in entrepreneurship: falling in love with a solution before you've confirmed the problem.