The Journey to Self-Discovery: Defining the RIGHT FIT industry to buy

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October 15, 2023

by a searcher from IESE Business School in Johannesburg, South Africa

At some point in our search journey, we all ask ourselves: What's the right business for me? Ideally, you've already answered this question before you even begin. But, like me, some of us may realize we haven't really thought it through, leaving us a bit bewildered when we encounter the countless industries and business options out there. Has anyone developed a framework to help answer this question?

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Reply by a searcher
from University of Florida in Miami, FL, USA
I think one of the biggest ways to segment the landscape of potential industries/targets is to determine if you want to focus B2B or B2C, as that differentiation can often determine if you’ll be serving a large quantity of end customers vs. a smaller group of business clients. Digging in further, I think it’s important to ask “what do you want to be doing day to day?” Are you more interested in managing customers, managing your staff, managing production? Would you enjoy the routine of showing up to a physical office/store every day, or would you prefer something different?
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Reply by a searcher
from KEDGE Business School in London, UK
Check out the Stanford Search Fund Primer. It includes a (pretty elaborate) framework for industry identification: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experience/about/centers-institutes/ces/research/search-funds/primer
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