← DictionaryMarket
The total set of people or organisations that could buy a given offer.
Everyone who could plausibly buy this.
What It Is
In the BWH map, Market lives under Business. The working definition is simple: the total set of people or organisations that could buy a given offer.
It is an idea you reason with rather than a deliverable you hand over, so two teams can both hold it correctly and still apply it differently. Held that way, the term stays useful instead of turning into decoration.
How It's Used
Market comes up in commercial decisions, pricing conversations and how the business runs. In real work it sits close to Total Addressable Market, Niche and Target Audience. The practical test is whether a decision changes because of it.
Why It Matters
Getting Market wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, margin leaks in places nobody is looking. Deciding it deliberately costs one conversation. Leaving it undecided costs several.
It is an idea that changes what you decide, not an item you tick off. Everyone who could plausibly buy this.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Inside the industry, Market is used tightly and assumed to be understood: the total set of people or organisations that could buy a given offer.
Away from the jargon, it is everyone who could plausibly buy this.
The Bottom Line
Market is not complicated — it is just often left vague. Everyone who could plausibly buy this. Decide it, write it down, move on.