Smart Intent
Transforming personal pain into focused business purpose
From Pain to Purpose
The most compelling ventures don't begin with dreams of unicorn status or elaborate business plans. They begin with pain—real, personal pain points that demand a solution. Smart Intent is about transforming these pain points into focused business purpose, then framing them in ways that make exploration and validation possible.
Start With Your Pain
Personal Experience as Your North Star
The most authentic business ideas emerge from personal frustration or unmet needs you've directly experienced. When you've lived with a problem, you understand its nuances in ways market research alone can't reveal.
Signs Your Pain Point Has Potential:
- You've tried existing solutions and found them all inadequate
- You've improvised workarounds that others might also need
- You find yourself repeatedly explaining the problem to others
- The frustration has persisted over time rather than being momentary
- Other people express similar frustrations when you mention the problem
Examine Your Expertise
Your experience gives you domain knowledge that's valuable and hard to replicate. Consider where your professional background, hobbies, or lived experience have given you unique insights others might lack.
Questions to Consider:
- What problems do people in your field consistently complain about?
- What inefficiencies have you noticed that others seem to accept?
- Where have you developed specialized knowledge or shortcuts?
- What tasks do people regularly ask for your help with?
- Which problems have you solved for yourself that might help others?
Frame Your Intent Small and Smart
Narrow Your Focus
The most common mistake founders make is trying to solve too much at once. Smart intent means identifying the smallest, most specific version of your solution that still delivers value.
Techniques for Narrowing Focus:
- Focus on a single user persona with an acute need
- Address one critical aspect of a larger problem
- Target a specific sub-niche or vertical first
- Remove all features that aren't essential to solving the core pain
- Define success in small, measurable terms
Craft a Problem Statement
Turn your insight into a clear, testable hypothesis. A well-framed problem statement creates focus and makes validation possible.
Elements of a Powerful Problem Statement:
- Who: Identify the specific user experiencing the pain
- What: Describe the actual struggle or frustration
- Why: Explain the impact of this pain point
- When: Note when and how often this problem occurs
- How: Outline how they currently attempt to solve it
Example Problem Statement:
“Freelance designers (who) struggle to get timely, actionable feedback on their work (what) because clients send fragmented comments across multiple channels (how). This leads to revision confusion and project delays (why) during critical approval phases of projects (when).”
Validate With Minimal Investment
Create Lightweight Experiments
Before building anything, design small experiments to test your assumptions. The goal is to learn whether your understanding of the problem matches reality.
Validation Approaches:
- Conduct problem interviews with potential users
- Create a landing page describing your solution to gauge interest
- Build a paper prototype or mockup for feedback
- Try to solve the problem manually for a few customers
- Use existing tools to cobble together a rough solution
Learn Fast, Pivot Early
Your initial frame is just a starting point. Be prepared to refine your understanding as you gather feedback and learn more about the problem space.
Signs You're on the Right Track:
- People eagerly share their experiences with the problem
- Potential users offer to pay for your solution before it's built
- You discover the problem is even more painful than you thought
- The same pain points come up repeatedly in conversations
- You identify patterns that weren't visible before you started
From Vision to Venture: The Complete Journey
Smart Intent is just one part of the founder's journey from initial vision to successful venture. Explore our complete framework to understand the entire process:
Common Mistakes
Identify and avoid the pitfalls that derail early-stage ventures before they can gain traction.
Smart Intent
Transform personal pain into focused business intent, framed in a way that enables efficient exploration.
Question Everything
Discover how continuous questioning and user feedback leads to product-market fit.
Your Pain Is Your Advantage
The most innovative solutions often come from founders who were trying to scratch their own itch. By starting with personal pain and framing your intent in small, smart ways, you create a foundation for exploration that's both authentic and efficient.
“The pain you've experienced isn't just motivation—it's market intelligence. When you solve your own problem in a focused way, you're likely solving it for others too.”
Ready to Transform Your Pain Into Purpose?
At Real Handy, we help founders navigate the journey from initial pain points to validated business models. Our technical leadership team can guide you through framing your intent and building the right foundation for your venture.