How to choose which customer problem to solve first

You

Two problems passed the rule: A, phone chaos with bookings, and B, regulars who forget their service. How do you choose?

Alex Tutor

Put them side by side and ask both the same questions. Who already spends on it? Does the person who pays feel it in money? Can a shop see the result? Can you build something useful in weeks?

Nina

A happens every day. B, once every few months per car.

Alex Tutor

True, A wins on frequency. Write that down honestly. Now the rest.

Oscar

Spending: A, 4 of the 11 who mention it; B, 6 of 9. Money: Greg counts lost regulars as lost revenue. Phone chaos mostly bothers Martha at the desk and Paul under a car.

Alex Tutor

And the result: a car that comes back after a reminder is something an owner can count. “Fewer calls” is much harder to prove.

Nina

Building: reminders need a client list, dates and a way to send. Online booking also needs car owners to stop phoning, and that habit is old.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Match each criterion with what the week showed about problems A (phone chaos) and B (forgotten service).

Pick an answer for each row. Choosing an answer that is already used moves it to this row.

How often it happens
Choose an answer
Who already spends on it
Choose an answer
Whether the payer feels it in money
Choose an answer
A result the shop can see
Choose an answer
Time to build something useful
Choose an answer

You

So B wins four criteria out of five.

Alex Tutor

Counting wins is a start, but look at which criteria matter most right now. You need shops to pay soon, so money already spent and a result the owner can see weigh more than frequency.

Oscar

Then B. Bringing regulars back with reminders.

Nina

Agreed. Product is my call, and I'm making it: B.

Alex Tutor

Write it down with today's date and the two main reasons. In a month, when booking requests pile up, you'll want to remember why.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Phone chaos (A) was mentioned by more shops and happens more often. Why do Nina and Oscar still choose B?

Choose one answerB is easier to explain to investorsMore of the shops that have B already spend on it, the owner feels it in money and can count the resultNina has always wanted to build remindersOscar's uncle recommended it

You

What does “commit” mean in practice?

Alex Tutor

For the next two months everything serves B: the conversations, the pre-sale, the first version. A and C go on a “later” list with a date to look again.

Oscar

And if a shop asks me for online booking?

Alex Tutor

Say “not yet”, write it down and count how often it comes up. That count is your data for the date on the list.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Which actions are part of committing to problem B for the next two months? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyConversations, the pre-sale and the first version all serve BA and C go on a “later” list with a date to look againOscar counts how often shops ask for online bookingNina builds online booking at weekends, just in caseOscar promises shops that booking will arrive in March

Nina

So booking and repair history are not dead.

Alex Tutor

No. They can become parts of the same product for the same shops, once reminders pay. Choosing one problem is about order, not about throwing ideas away.

You

And the mobile app for car owners?

Nina

Still parked. Its date on the list is far away.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

True or false: by choosing B, Nina and Oscar decide that online booking and repair history will never be part of GarageDesk.

TrueFalse

Oscar

My uncle, the one with the repair shop, called. He says the real money is in online booking and we're making a mistake.

Alex Tutor

He might be right one day. But your choice rests on what fourteen shops already spend, not on one opinion, even a family one.

You

Can I write Oscar's answer to his uncle?

Alex Tutor

Please. Short and friendly, with the numbers.

Oscar

He'll want numbers. He always says: show me the notebook, not your feelings.

Alex Tutor

Question 5Short answer · AI-checked task

Oscar’s uncle, who owns a repair shop, says the real money is in online booking. Write Oscar’s reply in 3–4 friendly sentences, using the numbers from the week.

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You

Can I try the whole module on a different business?

Alex Tutor

Yes. Two founders, small yoga and pilates studios in Dnipro, a week of conversations and three candidate problems. One of them is a founder's favorite.

Nina

I know how that feels.

Alex Tutor

Find who spends, who decides and pays, apply their rule, compare on the same criteria and commit to one problem.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Case · AI-checked task

Help Rachel and Sam choose the one problem to start with.

Rachel (developer) and Sam (former fitness trainer) want to build software for small yoga and pilates studios in Dnipro. Before their week of conversations they wrote a rule: a problem stays only if at least a quarter of the studios already spend money or regular hours on it. They spoke to 12 studios, asking everyone the same questions about the last time each problem happened.

Problem	Mentioned it	Already spend on it	Notes
X. Class bookings through Instagram messages	10	3	Happens every day. Administrators answer messages; 3 studios pay a part-time administrator mostly for this. Clients are used to writing in Instagram.
Y. Unpaid class passes	7	5	Owners reconcile bank transfers with a spreadsheet, about 4 hours a month; 2 pay their bookkeeper extra for it. Owners say some clients attend for weeks without paying.
Z. Trainers swapping classes	6	1	Sam’s favorite: he suffered from it as a trainer. Trainers sort it out in a group chat.

In most studios the owner decides on and pays for software; administrators and trainers use it.

Write your recommendation (250–400 words):

Apply their rule: how many spending studios does a problem need, and which problems stay?
For each problem, what share of the studios that mention it already spend on it?
Who feels each problem, and who decides and pays? Whom should Rachel and Sam talk to next?
Compare the finalists on the same criteria, including where the losing problem is stronger, choose one, and say what happens to the other problems and to Sam’s favorite.

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Alex Tutor

Next module: sell before you build. A price, and a request to pay before the first line of code.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: A price from the cost of today