Your key to success
‘Niche’ comes from the French ‘make a nest’. And that’s exactly what your small business needs: to find a comfortable segment in the market. The comfort comes from having loyal customers who in turn, provide you with a steady revenue stream.
But who and where are these loyal customers? Well, to find your niche, you must find a gap.
Who is your market?
It’s not a finite list, but your customers, suppliers and competitors are at the centre of your market. If you don’t understand who they are and what they want, there’s a risk your product or service won’t appeal to anyone or you’ll have no competitive edge.
How to find your niche
The learnings that you derive from this exercise should underpin your business plan and also be woven into your marketing strategy.
Step 1
Before you do anything, think about the things you are passionate about or good at, or things that make you the happiest. And then think about what makes other people happy when they do those things.
Step 2
A good place to start is to look at what your competitors are doing...
What do they offer?
To whom are they trying to appeal to?
What do they do well?
Where could they improve?
Step 3
Next, research what people want from a particular product or service. Small businesses generally have lower budgets, so focus on low-cost methods and tools such as:
Existing research published online (journals, magazines blogs)
Social media (for example, Facebook polls)
Online consumer reviews (Google reviews, Amazon, Product Review)
Accessible big data (Google trends, Google consumer surveys)
Step 4
Suppliers and vendors can also provide valuable information and insight to help you find your niche. For example, their knowledge of raw materials, current players in the industry, supply chains and manufacturing processes could reveal a way to speed up or diversify your product or service.
Step 5
When you overlay all your research (competitor analysis, consumer data and supplier input), you can start to identify gaps and opportunities in both the product/service offering and the process. To meet a consumer need or want that isn’t currently being met, could your business offer:
More variety
Lower prices
More flexibility
Higher quality
Faster turn-around times
Environmentally-friendly materials?
This will be your niche. When it comes to developing content for your market strategy, you’ll want to promote your niche to help you stand out from the crowd.
Research, identify, apply, repeat
Undertaking this research doesn’t just apply to new businesses. The market is continuously evolving as:
● New competitors enter the picture
● People’s needs and expectations change
● Suppliers’ manufacturing processes and technologies develop.
You’ll need to repeat this exercise and adapt to ensure you can attract and retain customers.
If you are repeating this process, you’ll have an advantage in step 2. You can send surveys to your existing customers to find out what you’re doing well and how you can improve.
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