Let’s talk a little about how to find a fertile place to plant your business, also known as your niche. If you are going to be successful in business in the long term, you must be able to answer the following questions: Who are you going to serve? What business are you really in? Where is there a large enough group of people that you can market to and support your business plan?
Many companies struggle with these answers. A few years ago, while we were going through a reorganization, we were also faced with these issues. Our original draft marketing plan contained a statement that identified our primary market as “small business owners.” We quickly realized that our statement encompassed too broad a group of people and a market that we could not realistically target properly.
So it took some time to hone the message and get really precise about who specifically I wanted to talk and with whom specifically wanted to aim and be effective, you will have to do the same. You can’t be everything to everyone, although many entrepreneurs try. In fact, that’s actually the biggest problem entrepreneurs have. We all have so many good ideas that we don’t know which ones to act on, and often we don’t know who we’re really talking to.
This uncertainty affects your ability to market, your ability to compose a message, your ability to find other people you can work with in terms of joint venture partners, and the like. So sit back and try to think about your niche. Who do you want to serve based on your skill set and products? Think about who your primary customers are, and then think about who your secondary markets are.
If you sell a product, think about all the main uses, as well as the optional uses of the product. The answers will lead you to secondary user groups as well as completely different secondary niches. It is not uncommon to discover that what was thought to be a secondary niche can be turned into a larger viable business simply by altering the marketing, color, or name.
The more strictly you can narrow down and define these niches, the easier it will be to delve into them and create lasting customer relationships that will help you build a strong business.
Ensuring that you develop strong roots, planted in a fertile niche, early on will create the kind of business success and long-term profitability that every business owner craves.