Saying, “I want to start a business” sounds exciting, but it’s not a business idea. It doesn’t tell you who your customers will be, what problem you’ll solve, what you’ll offer them, or why they’d care enough to buy from you. An idea doesn’t need to be perfect, catchy, or fancy to be expressed in one sentence. All you’re aiming for with a good summary sentence is to make it simpler to try out, talk about, and improve your idea.
A loose idea packs in too many decisions. Take this example: “I want to sell some kind of handmade products.” It leaves a lot open to decide: what kind of products? What kind of customers? What would make these customers buy this product? How much would they be willing to pay? When and why would they choose this option? A more helpful start would be: “I want to sell handmade desk organizers to the kinds of people who like working at home and wish for a cleaner workspace.” You can still tell this is early in the idea-making process, but at least you have some elements in place you can now start to test: the target customers, what customers want (a need), and what you’ll provide them (the offer).
A business idea summary sentence often describes the offer, the customer, and either the problem customers face or the need they’d want to satisfy with your product or service. So you can put it in simple words, such as: “I help customers like with a problem like by providing them with an offer like _.” This framework might sound too easy for real business, but it’s forcing you to think like a business owner. Instead of just thinking about and expressing what you’re going to make, it reminds you to make sure your idea fits some customers’ needs.
Grab a notebook or your digital planning file and write your current idea in one sentence. Don’t try to make it sound official or polished. Then, identify what your customer group is in the sentence by underlining it. Circle the kind of offer you’re providing. Make a little “x” for the kind of problem the offer will solve or need it will satisfy. If you find any of these three parts are missing, that’s OK. The sentence isn’t wrong; it’s just telling you where you need to focus next. If your customers are simply “all people,” try to narrow that down. If your offer is just “services,” try to say what services. If your problem is something broad like “people want better lives,” try to say a more concrete problem that’s harder to ignore than that, such as saving time, solving confusion, creating order out of mess, or making a better choice.
A summary sentence can keep you from getting too focused on the wrong details early on. Many new entrepreneurs want to rush to come up with a name, create a logo or set up a social media presence, or write a long business plan without first knowing more about the offer. Any or all of these can come in handy at some point, but they won’t fix a weak value proposition. If you can’t state what your business is offering and who it can help you in a single, smooth sentence, a catchy logo is not likely to get you much closer to understanding what problem or need you could address with your offer and long-term business plan.
When your summary sentence is in better shape, let it be a check for your other ideas. Ask whether you could come up with a price range from it, or whether it will help you think about costs, do a little competitor analysis, or prepare some questions for customers. The idea, “I want to offer coaching at an affordable price,” is hard to test. It doesn’t tell you much about the customers, or the problem or need, so where could you find these customers? Where can you find people like them? How will customers know you could help with their problem or need? How will you make sure the value you provide is better than what they currently experience? By contrast, the summary sentence, “I want to offer meal planning coaching for busy parents who want simpler meals for their weekday dinners,” provides plenty of fodder for customer questions, cost estimates, and offer design, and a little competitor analysis.
Keep in mind that your aim isn’t to put your business idea into one single sentence forever. Your goal is to come up with one version of a sentence so you can begin to refine your idea. When you learn more about customer needs, basic cost estimates, possible pricing structures, and competitor offers, expect your summary sentence to change. That’s fine. The best indication that your progress on the idea has been effective is that your sentences become more specific, rather than more general, in order to get you ready for your next step: asking a customer question, creating a one-page business plan, thinking about what costs will be, or figuring out your offer design.