Stop Explaining What You Do: Frame the Problem You Solve
If there’s one group of people I love working with most, it’s good-hearted entrepreneurs who’ve overcomplicated their business because they feel like they’re not enough. These are really smart, capable people, but they doubt their own value and question their worth.
The truth is, many of the elements they need are already in their business and locked somewhere inside of themselves. My work is helping them find alignment, identify what’s standing in their way, and teach them to recognize their own value so they can move forward with confidence and clarity.
And here’s what I’ve learned: the same principle applies to how you talk about your business.
Why Customers Don’t Care What You Do
When entrepreneurs describe their business, most of them start with what they do:
“I’m a business coach.”
“We provide tax and accounting services.”
“I own a restaurant.”
That’s category language. And if that wasn’t enough, they usually keep going, droning on about how they do it, often in mind-numbing technical jargon that nobody really understands or, frankly, cares about.
Here’s the truth: your customer doesn’t wake up in the morning thinking about categories. They don’t care how brilliant or exceptional you are at something they don’t even understand in the first place.
What they care about is the problem they have and the feelings they wake up with. The frustration in their gut. The stress pressing down on their chest before they even check their phone. The weight that follows them through the day - in the office, at home, at 3 a.m. when sleep won’t come. And don’t be fooled, its not only the big gut wrenching problems they care about, you target audience also cares about solving life’s little frustrations and inconveniences.
No matter if their pain or problem is large or small, that’s where you have to meet them. Not with a title, not with jargon, but with words that cut straight to the pain or frustration they feel and the “hope” they’re looking for.
So when you lead with a broad category - “I’m a coach” - you force their brain to do the hard work of translating: “Okay… but is that the kind of coach that will solve my pain?
That’s why they move on. Not because they don’t have the problem, not because they don’t need you, but because you didn’t connect your solution to their problem in a way that felt relevant, real, empathetic, aligned and clear and easy to understand without overworking their brain.
A Story from My Restaurant Days
When I opened my seafood pub, people came for more than fish and chips. Yes, it was comfort food, fried fish, chowder, lush desserts, but it wasn’t really about the food. Yes the food had to be good, but people came because they wanted to feel something. They wanted a place where their community could gather, and they could feel like they belonged. A place where they felt at home. A place where the server remembered their name, where the atmosphere made them feel important, and where the food wrapped around them like comfort.
If I had just said, “We’re a Boston-themed seafood pub,” that’s category language. That’s what we were. But what people were really buying wasn’t seafood, it was belonging.
Once we understood that, everything shifted. We weren’t selling plates of fried fish. We were selling comfort, connection, and the feeling of being valued.
Puzzle vs. Answer Key
When you lead with what you are, you hand your customer a puzzle.
Think about it. You say, “I’m a business coach.”
Their mind starts racing: “Okay… does that mean you help with sales? Or leadership? Or strategy? Or mindset? Or all of the above?”
Now, instead of listening with curiosity, their brain is working hard, burning calories, trying to solve the riddle of where you fit into their world. And most people won’t do that work. They’re already carrying a hundred puzzles of their own - bills, employees, family, stress. They don’t have the energy for one more.
And then something else happens. You get lumped into the box in their brain with every other service provider, coach, or consultant they’ve ever met, the ones who couldn’t solve their problem for one reason or another. You become another face in a crowd of people they’ve already tuned out.
But when you frame what you do through their problem, you hand them an answer key.
When you frame it right, they begin to think you may be the first one who can actually help them. The business or service provider who doesn’t sound like all the others. The first who connects directly to their pain, their problem, their frustration - the one who finally understands what it’s like to be them.
Instead of thinking it, they feel it. They don’t have to connect dots or translate categories. It lands in the gut: the late-night worry, the knot in the stomach, the constant voice whispering “you’re behind.”
And in that moment, it clicks. No brain puzzles to figure out. No friction. Just recognition.
They see and feel themselves in your words immediately and they know this is for them.
And that’s when they lean in. That’s when you begin to build trust.
How to Find Your Customer’s Problem
So how do you do this?
Listen for frustration words.
Your customers will tell you their problems if you listen:“I’m tired of…”
“I can’t seem to…”
“I wish I had more…”
Anchor in identity + emotion.
Don’t just describe the outcome - describe who they are.Not: “I help people get fit.”
Better: “I help married dads over 40 who feel burned out get their energy back so they can enjoy activities with their family and friends again.”
Mirror their fear.
“Most entrepreneurs don’t struggle because they lack ability. They struggle because they fear they’re not enough - not smart enough, not good enough, not capable enough.” When you frame your offer around that pain, you don’t just describe their business. You describe their life.
The Catalyst Lesson
Here’s the truth: your product, service, or technology doesn’t create value on its own.
The business model and the messaging around it are what create value.
If you can frame your customer’s frustration better than they can, you don’t just look like another option. You become their answer.
A Simple Exercise
Try this formula today:
“I help [specific target] who are struggling with [pain/frustration] so they can [desired outcome].”
Examples:
“I help over-whelmed entrepreneurs who feel stuck in their own head get clarity and confidence so they can grow without burning out.”
“I help smart, capable women who feel scared juggling business and family finally feel in control of their money so they can build the security they want.”
“I help over-stretched contractors who are drowning in paperwork free up their time so they can focus on growing their business.”
Write yours. Keep it. Use it.
Closing
Stop explaining. Stop leading with what you do.
Start framing the pain, problem, or frustration your target customer already knows too well. When you describe their struggle better than they can, they stop tuning you out and they start leaning in.
When you frame your customer’s frustration better than they can, they don’t just see you as an option. They see you as the answer.
If you’re a good-hearted entrepreneur who’s overcomplicated your business because you feel like you’re not enough, take the next step and send me an email. Clarity and confidence can start today.
Remember: You are worth it.