Laser Focus, Bigger Profits: The Power of Niche. (The Exercise)

Every small business needs management consulting. 

But not every small business is a good fit for my management consulting.

Much like not every animal with four legs is a cat. 

Many small businesses worry about being too specific – too niche – in their market, for fear of losing business to competitors. 

To quote the Niche Marketing Consultant Maiko Sakai: “Let’s put that to a test, shall we?”

What is a niche?

“Simply put, a niche is a highly specialized segment that your business chooses to be in”.

It is “a segment that is specialized and specific in a broader market”.

Think of a CPA firm that only caters to a specific type of business client. Perhaps “their accounting rules are so different from that of the rest of “normal” businesses where these customers would rather seek a specialist to take care of their taxes”. 

How specific is a niche?

A good niche is something that creates a specific image in a person’s head. 

“The last time I checked, the fitness industry is a 96 billion dollar industry in the US alone”.

To say ‘fitness’ means many different things to different people, so “this definition will not allow us to be as specific” as we need to be. 

The good news is: “there is no law that says you are stuck with just one niche forever”. 

A niche can evolve and adapt, so long as it keeps you targeted and specific.

Find your own niche

I will let Maiko summarize how important this is

“The reason I am a firm believer in sticking with one niche until it works is to cut down the amount of time wasted by idea hopping in your business. This is what I call, ‘building 8 bridges half way to get nowhere’.

We’ve all done this one way or another. We are so impatient in seeing results or success from our business activities that we don’t stick with one thing until we know for sure that it works or doesn’t. A ton of energy and time can be wasted by doing this”.  

What next

Start working on your niche selection by downloading the exercise. And try out Maiko’s quiz to see which kind of business owner you truly are.