Entrepreneurs, having attended entrepreneurial boot-camp programmes, have a simple answer to the question, “who is your audience?”

“The customer! We are completely and ruthlessly focused on the customer!”

This is the correct answer. However, it begs the question, who is your customer?

The person who clicks on the Buy Now! button on your web site, the person who needs your product, is your customer.

However, in the early stages of an enterprise, you need to be very aware of other audiences.

Policymakers and government agencies who have been assigned and funded to pick winners and losers in your sector, are an important audience. Potential investors who keep you afloat while you are gathering a critical mass of Buy Now! customers, these are also an important audience. Business and technology editors who may champion your enterprise and raise your profile in a way that a million-euro advertising budget could not, these are your audience too.

The three-paragraph boilerplate description of your enterprise brings this sharply in focus. You could simply tell people what your product does, that it performs a particular task faster, more efficiently or cheaper. However, it’s also important to tell people why this is important – why are you introducing this product or service at this time? You also want to tell them who is introducing this service. Investors and government agencies like to invest in people rather than in ideas, so who you are is as important as what your product or service can do.

Do you have first-mover advantage in the local market? Is your offering robust and fit-for-purpose? Could your business be scaled internationally? Could an investor showcase you as a successful venture and justify investing extra resources in you?

You have to be focused on the Buy Now! audience, because they have a clear need for what you’re selling. But at the early stages, be aware of the needs of the other audiences who can help you to succeed.