Lesson

What problem do you solve?

By the end you will be able to say, in a single sentence, the problem your business solves for someone.

10 min read6 min activity

Nobody wakes up wanting your product.

People wake up with a problem. If your business solves it with care and a fair exchange, you truly serve them. If not, you are just “interesting” to them.

Diagram description: Two-part diagram. On the left, a product alone on a shelf, with the note “Waiting on the shelf”. On the right, a person with a thought bubble that says “Not enough hours in my day”, highlighted with a gold ring and the label “Start here”. The business starts with the person and their problem, not with the product.

What you'll learn

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

State the problem in your customer's words, not your own.
Tell a problem apart from a product idea.
Name who feels it most and what they do about it today.

The idea

First the problem, then the product

A product is your answer. The problem is their question.

“I want to sell cakes,” “I want to open a laundry,” “I want to build websites”: all of those are answers. A business works when that answer fits a question someone is already asking: “where do I get a cake by Saturday?”, “when am I going to wash these clothes?”

A real problem shows

It has three signs. It happens to someone specific, not to “people.” It happens often, not once in a lifetime. And that person already does something about it, even halfway: they improvise, overpay, lose time, or put up with it. If nobody does anything about it, it may not be that big a problem.

What they do today is your best clue

What the person does today tells you how much the problem matters to them and which alternative they already use. If it costs them money, time, or worry, there is something your business can serve better. And the words they use to describe it are the same words you will later use so they understand you.

Fall in love with your customer's problem, not with your product.

Illustrative example

Marco's Mobile Laundry

Marco wants to start a service that picks up laundry, washes it, and returns it folded. His reason was: “everybody hates doing laundry.” Before buying anything, he asked himself who he had actually seen with that problem. He thought of his sister and her coworkers, nurses on 12-hour shifts: every week they pile up laundry until their one day off, and spend it at the laundromat. That was no longer “everybody.” It was someone, with a problem, every week.

Marco did not change his service. He changed the question: from “what do I sell?” to “what do I take off whose hands?”

Picture it

From your product to their problem

01
What you want to sell
Your starting point. It is valid, but it is still your answer.
02
Who something happens to
A specific person, in a specific situation, that happens often.

Compare

Product idea versus problem

Product idea · Does not help

“I am going to offer the best home laundry service.”

It talks about you. It does not say who it serves, when, or what it solves for them.

Clear problem · Helps

“For nurses on 12-hour shifts, the problem is having no time or energy to do laundry. It happens every week. Today the workaround is piling up clothes until the day off, and the cost is their only day of rest.”

Who: “nurses on 12-hour shifts”Someone specific you can go find and listen to.
What goes wrong: “having no time or energy to do laundry”Said the way that person would say it, without mentioning your service.
How often

Your turn

Build your problem sentence

Answer without mentioning your product. The sentence is built only from what you type: if you leave something blank, it stays blank. It is your first assumption; later you will check it with real people.

Your problem sentence

0 of 5

For [who], the problem is [what goes wrong]. It happens [how often]. Today the workaround is [what they do today], and the cost is [what it costs].

It is built only from what you type.

Your answers are saved only on this device. Nothing is sent to Leonix or to any AI.

What do I do with this now?

This sentence is your problem hypothesis: what you believe today, not something you have proven.

It tells you who to talk to first and what to ask them about.
It lets you check your idea: does what you want to sell really take that problem off their hands?
It still has to be tested: that the problem exists, that it happens often, and that it really costs them.

Your answers are now ready as context for the AI conversations just below.

Sharpen it with my AI

Ask your AI

Test your problem with AI

Three complete conversations, built from your own answers. None of them asks the AI to decide whether your idea is good: real people will tell you that. Fill in what is missing, copy, and paste into whichever AI assistant you prefer.

Your context

0/5 answers from “Your turn” already included in these conversations.Edit my answers

Your idea or business, in a few words

Your city or area

Your stage

Start here

Sharpen my problemWhat this helps with: To go from a vague idea to a clear problem, stated in a single sentence.

Your conversation, ready to copy

version 1

I am thinking about starting a small business in [city]: [your idea or business]. I am not selling yet: I am exploring the idea before I spend money. This is what I believe about the problem. It is a hunch: I have not checked it with anyone yet. Who I think has the problem: [who has the problem] What goes wrong for them: [what goes wrong] How often it happens: [how often it happens] What they do about it today: [what they do today] What it costs them (money, time, or worry): [what it costs them] Act as a patient business mentor and use plain language. Guide with stewardship, service, integrity, excellence, responsibility, and wisdom. Profit is necessary: it should help the business survive, pay people, reinvest, serve better, and leave something sustainable. Do not advise domination, manipulation, inflated promises, or growth for its own sake. Do not quote religion or preach. 1. First tell me which part of my description is vague and ask me for what is missing. Do not make it up. 2. Help me separate the problem (what happens to the person) from my product (what I want to sell). 3. Rewrite the problem with me in a single sentence, using only my words. 4. Tell me which signals, when I talk to real people, would show the problem DOES exist and which would show it does NOT, before I spend money. Do not invent facts about these people or about my market. Do not tell me the idea is good or bad: help me see what still has to be checked. If you assume something, label it as an assumption.

There are still blanks in brackets. You can fill them in here or directly in your assistant.

Before you paste: remove your customers' personal details. Afterwards: check what matters with real people.

Why it works

It opens with your idea and your stage: the AI knows where you are speaking from.
You give it your five answers as hypotheses, not as facts.
You ask it to separate the problem from the product: the most common mistake.
You forbid it from judging whether the idea is “good”: people decide that, not an AI.

More conversations to continue

Interview me about the problemWhat this helps with: So the AI asks how you know the problem exists, instead of simply agreeing with you.

Your conversation, ready to copy

version 1

I am thinking about starting a small business in [city]: [your idea or business]. I am not selling yet: I am exploring the idea before I spend money. This is my starting point. These are my own assumptions: Who I think has the problem: [who has the problem] What goes wrong for them: [what goes wrong] How often it happens: [how often it happens] What they do about it today: [what they do today] What it costs them (money, time, or worry): [what it costs them] Do not give me answers yet. Interview me: ask me about 5 questions, one at a time, and wait for my answer before asking the next one. Ask me where this idea came from, who I have seen with this problem, and what I still do not know. When I finish answering, summarize the problem in my own words, point out what is still an assumption, and tell me what I should ask real people. Do not invent anything I have not told you.

There are still blanks in brackets. You can fill them in here or directly in your assistant.

Before you paste: remove your customers' personal details. Afterwards: check what matters with real people.

Why it works

It flips the order: questions first, answers later.
It makes you recall real cases, not theories.
It ends with what is still an assumption.

What would prove me wrong?What this helps with: To find the weak spots in your problem before they cost you money.

Your conversation, ready to copy

version 1

There are still blanks in brackets. You can fill them in here or directly in your assistant.

Before you paste: remove your customers' personal details. Afterwards: check what matters with real people.

Why it works

It takes away the AI's habit of agreeing with you.
Looking for what would disprove you is cheaper than finding out after you invest.
It ends with things you can go and check, not with opinions.

Make it yours

Your five answers from “Your turn” are already included; change one there and it changes here.
Describe your idea in a few words, the way you would tell a neighbor.
Add phrases you have heard from real people, without names.

Keep asking

What assumptions did you make? List them and tell me how to check each one.
Give me 5 questions about this problem to ask 3 real people, without mentioning my product.
What other version of this problem might be more urgent for these people?

Privacy

Before you paste anything into an AI, remove real people's details. Do not paste your customers':

full names
phone numbers
addresses
private account information

Verify

AI helps. You verify. An AI cannot know whether your problem exists: only real people can tell you that.

Common mistake

The mistake

Describing your product and calling it a “problem”: “the problem is that there is no mobile laundry.”

Do this instead

Take your product out of the sentence. If the problem disappears when you remove it, it was a product idea.

The mistake

Believing a problem exists because it seems obvious to you, or because your family says it is a good idea.

Do this instead

Look for someone who is already spending money, time, or patience to solve it. That is the signal.

Key words

Terms in this lesson

Target customer: The description of the person your business primarily aims to serve, based on real needs and characteristics.

See the full glossary

Checklist

Before you move on, confirm

I can state the problem without mentioning my product.
I know who feels it most, and it is not “everyone.”
I know what that person does about it today and what it costs them.
I have 3 real people in mind to ask.

Verify

Check it against reality

A problem does not exist because you believe it, or because an AI says it sounds right. It exists if real people describe it to you without you suggesting it.

Ask 3 people about the last time it happened to them, without mentioning your idea.
Pay attention to what they did about it and what it cost them.
If nobody recognizes it as a problem, adjust your sentence before you spend money.

AI helps. You verify.

In short

Three ideas to take with you

Nobody wakes up wanting your product: people look for someone to solve a real problem, usefully and honestly.
A real problem happens to someone specific, happens often, and that person already does something about it.
Your problem sentence is a hypothesis. It is checked by listening to real people, not to an AI.

Wrap-up

Close the lesson

Almost there

• Finish “Your turn.”
• Tick the items on your checklist.

This progress lives only on this device.

Just your sheet: your result, your checklist, and your main AI conversation. You can also save it as a PDF from the print window.

What comes next

Next lesson

Who is your customer?

How to define your ideal customer to write clearer messages.

Continue12 min

Back to my path

Nobody wakes up wanting your product.

What you'll learn

First the problem, then the product

A product is your answer. The problem is their question.

A real problem shows

What they do today is your best clue

Marco's Mobile Laundry

From your product to their problem

Product idea versus problem

Build your problem sentence

What do I do with this now?

Test your problem with AI

ASharpen my problemWhat this helps with: To go from a vague idea to a clear problem, stated in a single sentence.

Why it works

BInterview me about the problemWhat this helps with: So the AI asks how you know the problem exists, instead of simply agreeing with you.

Why it works

CWhat would prove me wrong?What this helps with: To find the weak spots in your problem before they cost you money.

Why it works

Make it yours

Keep asking

Privacy

Verify

Common mistake

Terms in this lesson

Before you move on, confirm

Check it against reality

Three ideas to take with you

Close the lesson

Next lesson

Sharpen my problemWhat this helps with: To go from a vague idea to a clear problem, stated in a single sentence.

Interview me about the problemWhat this helps with: So the AI asks how you know the problem exists, instead of simply agreeing with you.

What would prove me wrong?What this helps with: To find the weak spots in your problem before they cost you money.