You may have heard of Product Market Fit, the key concept for a startup's success.

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Alright, let's start by refreshing your memory.

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The general theory of startups says that they must solve a problem in a replicable way, that is, a solution that serves several entities that have the same objective.

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The first step of a startup is to identify this problem to be solved.

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From the definition of the problem, she will be able to explore solution paths.

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This view of the problem is one of the most innovative stages, since it is not about improving existing solutions, as most companies do, but thinking about something based on the problem and building new solution paths.

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The solution medium usually explores technological paths, attempts to apply some new resource, the result of recent evolution.

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Hence the fact that so many are related to science and technology.

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Startups are testing new solutions, enabled by the moment in which we live.

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If it finds a solution to the problem, the startup will have a product.

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One way to make the challenge lighter is the concept of the least viable product, in English Minimum Viable Product (MVP), that is, the most simplified way to solve this problem.

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What many call a workaround.

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With the difference that gambiarras cannot be improved by known technological resources, nor can they achieve a profitable business model.

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If the startup has an MVP and it is offered in some profitable way, it will have reached the Product Market Fit stage, which is when a solution addresses the problem in a scalable way, that is, easily replicable and profitable.

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From then on, the startup enters its scalar phase, a stage in which efforts are made to bring it to its target audiences

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The company knows that it has found a lucrative way to solve the problem of many and sets out to capture this opportunity.

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In this phase, investment in marketing and sales teams increases.

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In parallel, the product continues to be developed in order to overcome the lower viability of the beginning.

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Later, the startup will have matured and reached the company stage, which is when efforts are dedicated to protecting existing markets rather than conquering new ones.

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In summary, Product Market Fit is a twofold challenge, since it requires a scalable solution to a problem in conjunction with the economic viability of offering it.

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But that's not the only Fit

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There are others and it is to talk about them that we are here.

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Store Market Fit

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You have a store that does well in a certain location and success inspires you to open another one.

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But where?

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Faced with this doubt, you immediately think about the restrictions, an ideal place that is close, so that you can manage both stores, but that has sales potential equivalent to what you have in the current store.

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You're looking for Store Fit, a place where your new store can fit in.

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That place can't be so close as to subtract sales from the current store, nor so far away that it's impossible to oversee.

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Market Fit

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In this space not so close, not so far away, you still need to validate that there is sales potential, which brings together people in a quantity and profile similar to those who buy at the current store.

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If you find a place that meets both of these conditions, you will have found the Store Market Fit.

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By the way, this is quite a challenge, which is why several chains work with more than one store format, flexible models that allow the store to fit more easily into a market with potential.

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Think about it and be flexible in your expansion.

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Did you like it?

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Stay tuned for the next article: Quick Guide to Store Market Fit