How to find the target audience?

You probably heard or read more than once that before you start a business, you need to determine this very target audience. And not only sex, age, marital status, income level, but also world outlook, values, hobbies, dreams, taste preferences, favorite media, books and music. And a way of thinking, hidden desires and attitude towards your competitors. I do not argue, this knowledge is very helpful and great, if you already have it.
But what to do if you do not know who your target audience is, and only vaguely guess, who but you may be interested in what you are doing?

"What is the target audience? I just sew great house slippers. Everyone wears slippers at home ... "

Entrepreneurs facing this problem, the question "Who is your target audience?", Strictly prescribed by the marketing guru, paralyzes. They begin to blink nervously and feverishly try to come up with an answer. However, a fictional character with invented needs can only buy something from you in imagination, paying off with imaginary money. Alas.
No need to invent anything. At the very beginning it's perfectly normal not to know your target audience. Large companies have the resources to research the needs of potential buyers, develop communication options, test the market, but microbusinesses do not have such resources, so they have to act as a scientific poke or go into reconnaissance by fighting.

The method of scientific poking
First, outline at least about who your potential buyer is. This can be helped by the method of deletion, when you first write out who exactly is not your client, and thereby gradually narrow the circle. So, the owners of a small brewery immediately struck out students of state universities, who do not have money for crafted beer (they buy a bottle), young parents (they do not have beer to drink in principle), adolescents and pensioners, residents of poor neighborhoods that barely make ends meet. And they got a socio-demographic cut, with which it is already possible to work.
Exploration by battle
The first clients are often caught in a crowd, and the understanding of who they are, comes after interacting with them.
Once upon a time I caught the eye of the poems of Publius Ovid Nason "Science of Love. A cure for love. " There he gave instructions to young girls, where to look for suitors. I quote.
"You beauties, you need crowded crowds,
You need to go more often where people crowd!
To a whole herd of sheep goes for a sheep wolf,
In a whole flock of birds, she searches for the eagle's prey.
So your own you have to show beauty everywhere,
To many of the one your fan has become.
Everywhere try to happen, where there is someone to like,
Do not forget anything to be fascinating. "

If you shift his advice to the micro-business, then the principle will be the same. When you first start and very approximately imagine who your client is and where to look for him, go with your proposal to where the suitable audience is going (groups in social networks, thematic portals, exhibitions, events, etc.). If it immediately attracts someone and you get the first customers - excellent. Further, as the base is worked up, you can analyze, segment, identify your loved ones and not very, determine who you want to work with. If it does not please anyone, then this is a serious reason to think whether everything is in order with your product and its presentation, but this is another story.

I will give an example from my practice. When 6 years ago I started the first business-marketing agency Serebro Lab, I immediately swung a very wide range of services, right up to PR-campaigns. At that time I tried myself in different spheres, I tried to understand what I was good at and tried the market in parallel, trying to understand what he needed. After a year and a half, I narrowed down our specialization to visual-text communications: sites, presentations, printing, branding, which I and my team got the best and brought us money, fame and gratitude. At the same time, a portrait of our ideal client crystallized: men aged 35+, heads of small or medium-sized businesses, a pioneer or leader in their market, who wants to preserve and strengthen their positions. He was looking for an optimal balance of price / quality, was open to non-standard solutions, so it was easy to find through the ads on freelance exchanges, word of mouth and contextual advertising. He was also happily married, so he took the advice from the women calmly, backed up by arguments. This understanding greatly facilitated communication with customers, but it did not come to us immediately.
Important nuance
In reconnaissance, in no case can you go all-in. Investments in market testing should be minimally necessary. Select for testing the amount with which you are willing to relatively painlessly leave, if the experiment fails. If you produce something tangible, make a small batch and see how it goes. If it's a question of a service, start with free channels, for example, from thematic groups in social networks.