Most founders start with the product. Or the brand. Or even worse — the logo. But if you’re trying to build a profitable business — not just a pretty one — there’s a better way to start: Start with the business model.

Before you open Figma or write a line of code, ask yourself one key question: How will this make money? Sounds obvious, right? But it’s one of the most skipped steps in early-stage product development. You don’t need a perfect model on Day 1 — but you do need a working theory of revenue. Especially if you’re aiming to go lean and fund yourself through customers, not investors.

Here’s how to think about it:

1. Who is going to buy this?

Not just who would find this useful — but who will pay to solve this problem? That’s a huge distinction. You need to get crystal clear on your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP): What type of company are they? What job titles are you selling to? What’s the size of their team or budget? What’s the specific pain point they have? Too many people build for a vague “market” without actually identifying buyers. When you build for someone specific, everything becomes sharper — the product, the positioning, even the pricing.

2. Do they have budget right now?

Even if the problem is real, budget timing can kill your momentum. Are they in a buying cycle? Do they typically buy tools like this? Do they need procurement sign-off? Legal reviews? Will this be a $2,000 decision or a $200,000 one? If your product needs to go through multiple layers of approval, you better be solving something painful enough to be worth the internal effort. Understanding buying behavior upfront will help you avoid building for customers who nod along but never buy.

3. What type of buyer are they — is it a fast or slow sale?

Selling to a solo marketer is not the same as selling to an enterprise CRM manager. If you’re B2B, this will directly impact your sales motion, pricing, and cash flow. A $50/month self-serve tool is very different from a $25K/year ACV product that takes 3 months to close. You need to choose your lane early: high-velocity, low-ticket or low-volume, high-ticket. And build your product and GTM around that.

4. Is the problem painful enough?

Nice-to-have tools don’t sell in tough markets. Does this problem keep your buyer up at night? Does it cost them time, money, or reputation? A good litmus test: If you disappeared tomorrow, would they care? If you’re solving a shallow problem, expect shallow traction.

5. If you’re helping them make more money — is it enough to move the needle?

ROI is great, but only if it’s meaningful. Telling someone you can help them make an extra $2K per year might sound great — but not if they’re a $200M company. Your impact has to be big enough relative to their size, and clear enough to justify the spend. Otherwise, even with a solid product, you’ll be stuck in “maybe later” purgatory.

So what’s the better approach? Don’t start with features. Start with Annual Contract Value (ACV). Design for a customer and a contract value that gets you to $100K MRR — and build backward from there.

Did you start with product first or business model first? What would you do differently if you had to do it all over again?

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