All entrepreneurs and business owners have a niche – a specialized service or product that helps them stand out. Finding your niche should be all about finding what interests you the most. Remember, when one is passionate about their career path, they are much more likely to succeed.
It’s essential to choose a niche with care. This will potentially stick with any entrepreneur for life and will undoubtedly stick with any brand or company that is developed within the industry. Here are a few ways to find the right entrepreneurial niche for you.
Passions and Skills
The first step may seem like the most obvious one, and in a way, it is. Now is the time to assess passions and skills – what sort of interest do they lean towards? Is there a niche that is ideally suited for the available skillsets and passion?
Remember, choose something that you are genuinely passionate about. If things go well, this niche will define much of your career life going forward. Don’t stick yourself with something bland or frustrating simply because it may seem like the more professional choice.
Solve a Problem
Products and services succeed when they are solving potential problems that clients have. Once a general idea of a niche has formed (based on passions and skills), it is time to discover potential issues that can be solved within the field.
Here is where thinking outside of the box is encouraged and where an entrepreneur can begin to shine. Consider different solutions to all of the problems that come to mind and how to form a new business model.
Research
Now that passions, skills, and ideas have formed, it is time to sit down and research. Look at all of the potential competition out there. Make sure to include competition within the general niche as well as competition for your newly invented solution.
When assessing the competition, consider all sides of the situation. In what ways are those businesses succeeding? What could be improved? Are there ways to bring a new business in that will outshine the rest?
Definition
Now that everything else has been sorted out, it is time to define your niche. Start with the broad strokes (everything discovered by going through the above steps), and narrow it down.
When defining your niche, it’s okay to consider potential customers and their demographics (including values, location, and interests). It’s around this point in the process that a business plan should be in the making.