The most important factor to consider when starting to build a business is the target audience. You have to think of who would you want to cater to. Who are the communities that you may profit off of. Like for example if there is a school near you, you should know that students would be your target audience. You should start a business where students can buy materials from or a place they can study or even hang out around. I believe that if you studied your target audience, the first step of your business is already successful enough.
One thing is knowing the business you want to do very well most people go into business without carefully understanding how the business works because they see people doing it and become successfull and they decides to try and they end up not been successful. Another thing to site is your location location matters alot and your business will be what the environment can't do without and it should also be in a populated area so your business can grow fast, school environment is always a good location to do any kind of business.
I do agree with you because I know that your target audience is the key to any successful business. Otherwise it is just a kind of guessing. However, I would say the other two pieces that are frequently neglected are testing your demand and knowing yourself.
Many individuals think of a good location and then expect success, yet even in a school setting not all ideas are successful. To take an example, students might require printing services during exams but not heavily spend on it throughout the year. When you rely entirely on those peak periods as the basis of your entire business model, cash flow will not be stable. That is why it is worthwhile to pilot the idea with small tests perhaps set up a stand at the weekend or just take a survey of students on what they are actually spending per week.
The other important thing is to know what you have to offer and the business under the hood. People will imitate a model because they will see them making money but they do not know that there is a lot of hidden work. As an example, operating a small cafe close to a school might seem easy, but the margins are low, managing supplies is a challenge, and the competition is intense. Enthusiasm alone will not support the business without knowing these challenges.
Yes, audience and location are important, but with that combined with adequate research, small scale testing, and self awareness, the base will need to be more firm. Personally, I believe that is the way you minimise the costs of trial and error that drown most small businesses.