The truth is your business is different than it was a year ago. You’ve changed. You need different things and your relationship with your target market just isn’t what it used to be. You had good times in the beginning, but eventually those feelings faded. Here are the three reasons you need to dump your target market and search for something new.

1. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”

When your relationship first started everything just clicked, right? You understood each other’s wants and needs and left one another fulfilled. But time changes people. Maybe your business grew to offer more than your target market wanted. Maybe your target market grew to want more than your business could offer. The point is, relationships are constantly changing and evolving just like your business environment. Sometimes couples grow and evolve together, but sometimes one person outgrows the other. It’s time to take a long look at your target market and ask how their desires and motivations have changed over time. Take a look at your business and see how your products and services have changed. You might discover that it’s time to look at a new target market.

2. “You deserve better than me.”

Speaking of changing relationships, sometimes your customers are going to flock to the richer, more attractive company. It’s not your fault; you have nowhere near the resources that the other company has. Unfortunately, you have to face the fact that your target market is with someone else now and when this happens it only hurts more in the long run to deny that. Instead, you need to pick yourself up and find a new target market.

3. “There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

Maybe you identified your target market when your business was still young. You stuck to them throughout the years because it was comfortable and you knew how to deal with them. As time moved on though, you began to notice that plenty of other businesses were talking to your target market. Soon enough, they were copying your products and services, turning your once-novel relationship into a commodity. When that happens, it’s time to look for other non-saturated markets. It’s hard to thrive when a million other companies can offer what you can. Maybe it’s time to change what you can offer?

Breakups are tough, but you can always be friends. Maybe you can talk from time to time, but it’s important to know when your target market stops aligning with your company’s vision. If your company or your target market have changed in the past year, it’s time to sit down and reevaluate that relationship.