Your target market is the specific group of people you will sell to first. In a business plan, you describe who they are, where they are, what they need, how often they buy, and what makes them choose one seller over another. For a micro business, one to three customer groups is enough. Pick the group that is easiest to reach and most likely to become suki.
Why "everyone" is the wrong answer
"Our target market is everyone in the barangay" is the most common line in weak business plans. It tells a reader you have not decided who you are for. A carinderia that serves tricycle drivers at 6am runs very differently from one that serves office workers at noon. Choosing a group shapes your hours, prices, menu and location.
Choosing does not mean refusing other customers. It means you design the business around one group and welcome anyone else who walks in.
What to put in the section
Describe each customer group in a short paragraph or table. Cover these points:
- Who they are: students, market vendors, young families, call centre staff, sari-sari store owners buying wholesale.
- Where they are: which streets, buildings, dorms or terminals.
- When they buy: time of day, days of the week, payday weeks, school terms.
- What they need: the problem you solve for them, in their words if possible.
- How much they spend: typical spend per visit and how often, from your survey.
- How they decide: price, distance, speed, trust, credit (utang), cleanliness, delivery.
- How you reach them: walk-by, Facebook groups, dorm bulletin boards, referrals.
Worked example: a laundry shop near a university
Example: a laundry shop near a university in Manila. This is an illustration. Replace the blanks with what your own survey finds.
Primary group: dorm and boarding house students. About [number] students live in the [number] dorms within two blocks, based on our count of rooms. Most have no washing machine. In our survey of [number] students, most said they do laundry [frequency] and care most about price per kilo and same-day pickup before weekend trips home. They buy most in the first weeks after allowance arrives.
Secondary group: young working renters. Renters in the apartments on [street] work long hours and said they would pay more for pickup and delivery. They spend more per load but come less often.
What it means for the plan. Open early on weekdays, offer a student price per kilo of ₱____ (your figure), run a suki card where every [number]th load is free, and add evening delivery for the apartment group. Each choice traces back to something the customers said.
Turning customers into suki
In most Philippine neighbourhoods, a small business lives on repeat buyers. Your target market section is a good place to explain how you will turn first-time buyers into suki: remembering names and orders, small loyalty rewards, fair and consistent pricing, and clear rules on credit. If you will allow utang, say who qualifies, the limit, and when it must be paid. Lenders like to see that you have thought about it.
Common mistakes
- Naming everyone as your market.
- Describing customers with age and gender only, and nothing about what they need.
- Picking a group that is not near your location.
- Ignoring when customers have money, such as payday and allowance cycles.
- Listing five or more groups, which spreads a small business too thin.
- Not linking the profile to prices, hours and marketing elsewhere in the plan.
Target market checklist
- Pick one primary customer group and at most two others
- Describe where each group lives, works or passes
- Note when they have money to spend
- Write what they need in their own words
- Record spend per visit and visits per month from your survey
- Explain how you will turn buyers into suki
- Set clear rules if you will give credit
Customer profile template
| Question | Group 1 | Group 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Who are they? | ____ | ____ |
| Where are they? | ____ | ____ |
| When do they buy? | ____ | ____ |
| What do they need most? | ____ | ____ |
| Spend per visit | ₱____ (your figure) | ₱____ (your figure) |
| Visits per month | ____ | ____ |
| How will you reach them? | ____ | ____ |
Questions people ask
- How specific should my target market be?
- Specific enough that it changes how you run the business. If knowing your target market does not affect your hours, prices or location, narrow it further.
- Can a sari-sari store have a target market?
- Yes. A store near a school may focus on students and parents at drop-off. A store inside a subdivision may focus on households who need daily cooking items without going to the palengke.
- Should I include age, income and gender?
- Include them if they matter for what you sell. What customers need, when they buy and how they decide usually matter more for a micro business.
- Is a target market the same as a market analysis?
- No. The market analysis measures total demand around you. The target market picks out the group you will serve first and describes them closely.