Why Your Friends Aren't Your Target Market
One piece of advice I hear repeatedly in the startup world is:
"Just ask your friends and family."
Sometimes it's:
"Take samples to networking events."
Or:
"See who likes the product."
Whilst all of these approaches can have value, none of them should be confused with customer insight.
Your friends and family are not your target market.
They're people who care about you.
And because they care about you, they're often the wrong people to help you make important business decisions.
Most people don't want to hurt your feelings. They'll focus on the positives. They'll encourage you to keep going. They'll tell you the packaging looks great. They'll say they'd probably buy it.
Unfortunately, "probably" isn't a business model.
The real question isn't whether friends like your product.
The real question is whether shoppers, consumers or guests would choose it over every other option available to them.
That's a very different conversation.
As a consumer insights agency, we often speak to founders who have received overwhelmingly positive feedback but are struggling to gain traction in market.
The issue usually isn't the product.
The issue is that they haven't spoken to enough real customers.
Understanding consumer behaviour means understanding the people who make purchasing decisions in the real world. What problems are they trying to solve? What alternatives are they considering? What barriers are stopping them from buying? What would make them come back again?
These answers rarely come from friends, family or fellow founders.
They come from customer research.
This is particularly important when developing a startup brand strategy or planning future growth. Founders are often encouraged to start with their brand story, their vision and their mission.
Those things matter.
But at Liquid Insights, we prefer to start somewhere else.
We start with the customer.
We start with the shopper standing in front of the shelf.
We start with the consumer scrolling online.
We start with the guest deciding where to spend their money.
Because regardless of the category, those are the people who determine whether a business succeeds or fails.
Your story matters.
But your customers' story matters more.
That's why our approach to customer research consulting focuses first on understanding real behaviours, motivations and decision-making. Whether through retail shopper insights, path to purchase research, or broader consumer research UK projects, the goal is always the same: helping brands make decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
The strongest brands aren't built on compliments.
They're built on understanding.
And that understanding starts with the people you're trying to serve, not the people who already support you.