# Choosing one problem > Comparing the candidate problems on the same criteria, committing to one, and parking the rest with a date to look again. - Course: [From Idea to Profitable Product: Building Without Investors](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product.md) - Module: One repair shop, one problem - Lesson 8/30, ~34 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/choosing-one-problem ## Two finalists **Alex Tutor:** GarageDesk again, with you advising alongside me. Last week's checks are done, and Nina and Oscar want a decision. **Sofia:** 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? ![Two cars stand on side-by-side lifts in a garage; a mechanic checks both with the same checklist on one clipboard.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/choosing-one-problem-illustration-2.webp) **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. > **Exercise:** GarageDesk spent a week checking candidate problems with 14 repair shops. Match each criterion with what the week showed about problems A (phone chaos with bookings) and B (regulars who forget their next service). ## The choice **Sofia:** 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. ![Phone chaos wins only on frequency; lost regulars win on spending, money the payer feels, a countable result and build time, so B is the problem to commit to.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/diagrams/m2-l4-scorecard.png) *Same questions for both finalists; weigh what matters now.* **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. > **Exercise:** GarageDesk's two finalist problems are A, phone chaos with bookings, and B, regulars who forget their next service. A was mentioned by more shops and happens more often. Why do Nina and Oscar still choose B? **Alex Tutor:** Nina has decided. How should that decision be kept? > **Exercise:** Nina and Oscar agree to build GarageDesk around problem B, regulars who forget their next service, and to park A (online booking) and C (repair history). What should they do with the decision today? ## What committing looks like **Sofia:** 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. ![A mechanic places two tool cases on a high shelf and keeps a single toolbox open on the workbench in front of him.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/choosing-one-problem-illustration-3.webp) *Choosing one problem isn't giving up on the others; it's choosing the order.* **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:** Say Oscar keeps that count through January. Turn it into a number. > **Exercise:** In January Oscar talks to **40** shops, and **3** of them ask for online booking. What percentage of the shops he talked to asked for it? Round to one decimal place. > **Exercise:** GarageDesk has chosen problem B, bringing back regulars who forget their next service, over A (online booking) and C (repair history). Which actions are part of committing to B for the next two months? Select all that apply. **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. **Sofia:** And the mobile app for car owners? **Nina:** Still parked. Its date on the list is far away. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** by choosing B, bringing back regulars with service reminders, Nina and Oscar decide that online booking and repair history will never be part of GarageDesk. **Alex Tutor:** Let's play the month forward. Booking requests start to pile up. > **Exercise:** GarageDesk committed two months to problem B, service reminders for regulars, and parked online booking with a date to look again. Three weeks in, several shops have asked Oscar for online booking. What should Nina and Oscar do? ## Explaining the choice **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. **Sofia:** 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. > **Exercise:** 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: of 14 shops, 11 mentioned phone chaos with bookings and 4 of those 11 already spend money on it; 9 mentioned regulars who don’t come back and 6 of those 9 already spend money on it. ## The whole module in one case **Sofia:** Can I try the whole module on a different business? **Alex Tutor:** Yes. Rachel, a developer, and Sam, a former fitness trainer, want to build software for small yoga and pilates studios in Dnipro. They've just had a week of conversations and have three candidate problems. One of them is a founder's favorite. **Nina:** I know how that feels. **Alex Tutor:** You're their adviser now. Find who spends, who decides and pays, apply their rule, compare on the same criteria and commit to one problem. > **Exercise:** Help Rachel and Sam choose the one problem to start with. > **Key ideas** > > - Compare finalists on the same criteria: share of those with the problem who already spend, whether the payer feels it in money, a result the customer can count, time to build something useful. > - Be honest where the loser wins (phone chaos happens daily); then weigh the criteria that matter most now. > - GarageDesk chooses **B: bringing regulars back with reminders**. Booking and repair history can come later as parts of the same product. > - Committing means everything serves one problem for a set time; the rest goes on a “later” list with a date. > - Requests for parked problems are counted, not built. **Alex Tutor:** Next module: sell before you build. A price, and a request to pay before the first line of code. - Previous lesson: [Customer discovery in a week](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/checking-the-problem-in-a-week.md) - Next lesson: [Value-based pricing: start from the cost of today](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/price-from-the-cost-of-today.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.