What would make someone choose this over their current option?

Better at what?

You can describe an idea as faster, simpler or more personal and still leave someone wondering why they should try it. Those words only become useful when you connect them to something that person wants to do.

Start with a difficulty in their current approach. What gets in the way, and when does it matter? If you haven’t heard a specific example from a potential customer, you have a proposed advantage to investigate. You don’t yet know that it matters to them.

A sewing class has to compete with staying home

Suppose you want to teach beginners to sew. Their current option might be watching free videos at home. Saying your class has expert teaching and lots of projects describes the class, but it doesn’t explain why someone would travel and pay for it.

Imagine someone who wants to shorten a pair of trousers. They’ve watched a video but keep stopping when the fabric bunches up. Help with that exact problem could be more useful to them than a broad introduction to sewing.

Your proposed offer could be a two-hour session where they bring one pair of trousers, work through the hem and get help when they’re stuck. Make that offer only if you can teach it and provide the equipment and time it needs.

Now consider what you’re asking them to change. They need to travel, commit to a time and spend money instead of continuing with a free video. The help has to matter enough to make those tradeoffs worthwhile. Someone who is happy learning alone may have little reason to come.

Make the choice small enough to understand

You don’t need to sell the whole business idea in the first conversation. Describe one offer you could deliver: who it helps, what they’ll work on, when it happens, the total price and anything they need to bring or do.

Then someone can compare a real choice with what they already use. “Would you book this session?” is a different question from “Do you like my idea?” A booking is a stronger signal than a compliment, but it still leaves you with work to deliver and learn from.

Put one offer in front of one person

Choose someone who has described the difficulty you want to help with. Offer the smallest version you can honestly deliver, with a clear date, price and scope. Ask whether they want to book it.

If they hesitate, ask what makes the choice difficult. Listen for the part your offer would need to address: the result, the timing, the cost, confidence in you or the effort of changing. Don’t assume a lower price will fix it.

Keep a short note of the offer, what they chose and their reason. One response won’t establish a market. It can show you which part of the choice to investigate next.