Entrepreneurs hit intersections at full speed and no plan of where to go, but someone like Sramana Mitra can guide the way. The technology entrepreneur, book author, and strategy consultant in Silicon Valley has founded three companies, writes a business blog, Sramana Mitra on Strategy, and runs the 1M/1M initiative.

Results are in from the most recent 1M/1M initiative roundtable of entrepreneurial presentations, and a common thread throughout Sramana’s advice is “Don’t spray and pray” and focus on one or a few categories of people to target.

Joshua Schwadron presented Betterfly, a startup that brings together in one place individuals who he finds and believes … best provide various services. It is a free site that uses social media to get the news out. It lists over 10,000 service providers, including hairdressers, personal trainers, and piano teachers.

Sramana asked which categories is “he focusing on as his market entry points.” His answer was music, yoga, weight loss and SAT (Scholastic Achievement Test that is necessary to pass for admission in many of the reputed and accredited college or university for higher studies in the United States) prep as the most popular to this point.

The technology entrepreneurial advisor thought that he should pick a certain type of customer who is very likely to need each service he plans to focus on. She further stated to “choose women or men of a certain age group who are tech savvy and then offer a few services that apply to them.” She believed that SAT did not fit.

Second, Taha Jiwaji of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, regaled the audience with opportunities in Africa and his Bongo Live!, an advertising and mobile services company whose customers are subscribers and vendors. Subscribers can receive advertising specials based on their interests, like coupons. He has used Google and Facebook advertising to draw in 1,800 subscribers so far. Five bulk SMS vendors and two advertisers have signed on as vendors. (Join the group at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bongo-Live/416935642541?v=wall.)

Taha’s main question was … should he focus more on acquiring subscribers or vendors. In Sramana’s opinion, “Taha needs to grow both bases, but subscribers a bit ahead of vendors.” The size of one’s subscriber base is a key point in getting better vendors to sign up. She felts that Taha is focusing on too many categories for subscribers and recommends to pick three categories to focus on. With at least five in the mobile/computer electronics businesses per the bulk SMS vendors, that is where Sramana advised to start.

“One very interesting point in the conversation was when Taha said he was surprised that job/career is the most popular category so far. With no other job portal operating in Africa so far, I suggested that could be a separate venture for him to explore. We discussed leveraging vendor relationships by, for example, offering to list the vendors’ job openings on his site. More to come from entrepreneurs in Africa I’m sure,” says Sramana.

Both examples, when analysed, should cause an epiphany in the minds of those job-seekers who have searched in traditional ways. Why not create your own service. Start by creating a place on the Internet where people want to be and cater to your potential vendors and to your fan or subscriber base. Check out the top 50 using Facebook in 2009, a nice mix of conglomerates and some very bright Neil, Tua or Michael … Sarah, Rani, or Barbie.

Readers can follow Sramana on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/sramana.