The Most Important Strategy Question: “What Problem Are We Solving?”

In nearly every business strategy session I facilitate, I ask this one question first:

“What problem are we really solving — and for whom?”

It sounds simple. But most businesses jump straight into planning features, revenue targets, or tech adoption without crystal clarity on the problem they’re built to solve.

🚫 Strategy Without a Problem = Noise

Here’s what I often see:

• Startups chasing trends without validating the pain point.
• SMEs upgrading tech stacks but losing sight of customer needs.
• Even established companies trying to reposition, but forgetting to revisit their core problem-solution fit.

The result? Confusion. Wasted resources. Marketing that doesn’t convert. Innovation that doesn’t land.

✅ Business Strategy Starts with the Problem

Here’s what shifts when we get laser-focused on the problem:

1. Your Positioning Becomes Sharper You no longer try to serve “everyone.” You serve someone with a very specific problem.
2. Your Business Model Gets Leaner You stop adding features that don’t matter and start charging for what customers really value.
3. AI Becomes a Tool, Not a Toy When the problem is clear, it’s easier to evaluate which AI tools can truly help automate, accelerate, or amplify your solution.

💡 Ask Yourself (and Your Team):

• Are we solving a symptom or the root cause?
• Has the customer’s pain point evolved — and are we still relevant?
• If we disappeared tomorrow, what problem would people still need solved?

🗳️ I Ran a Poll on This…

I recently asked on LinkedIn:

What’s the FIRST question you ask when developing a business strategy?

Most people chose: “What problem are we solving?” — and that’s exactly the answer I’d give, too.

🛠 How I Help Businesses Reframe Their Strategy

As a 10X Strategy Coach, I guide SME owners to rethink their positioning, business model, and strategy.

We start with a powerful clarity framework that asks:

1. What’s the core problem we solve?
2. Who values this solution the most?
3. How do we deliver it uniquely and scalably — with or without AI?

If your business feels stuck, or if you’ve layered on complexity without deeper clarity… 👉 Come back to the one question that unlocks everything: What problem are we solving?