What Is A Niche In Business?

In this article, she explains very clearly why even established businesses need niche business ideas and how to choose the best one for continued success.

We can’t be all things to all people and we can’t sell to everyone. Many business owners struggle to attract the right customers because they’re often trying to appeal to a broader audience. They don’t want to lose opportunities to win new business.

The problem is when you are trying to appeal to everyone, the chances are that you will appeal to no one.

I know it can be tempting to consider the whole world as your customer. You want to sell to everybody, right? The problem is that no business can sell to everyone; still many make the mistake of trying.

Think about your buying behaviour. There will be some shops or supermarkets you use regularly and others you never go to or very rarely. We spend money where we think we get the most value or we’re most comfortable with, in a place where we feel understood. Your clients or customers do the same.

What’s the alternative?

One of your very first steps to growing a profitable business is to pick a niche business.

What is a niche for a business?

A niche is the specific industry you operate and the types of service/ products you will sell. 

Ideally, your niche business is where your passion and expertise cross with the needs and wants of a workable target market.

I know it may feel counterintuitive to restrict the market you intend to serve. Instead, if you can find a niche that is narrow and deep, you will make it easy for people to recognise themselves as your potential clients.

Also, narrowing your niche immediately sets you apart from competitors. You will find it much easier to do marketing and advertising! Also, it provides a gateway for your prospects to enter your world.

The trend toward smaller niches

These days, smaller niches are more effective. For example, targeting teenagers isn’t specific enough; targeting male, African British teenagers with family incomes of £40,000 and up is.

When you have a niche, then you narrow down your market to a specific group, either vertically (e.g. by sector, for example, retail) or horizontally (e.g. by demographics, for example, businesses with 10-50 staff in a 10-mile radius of London).

Advantages of Niching Down

• Clear Focus: A niche gives you a clear focus for your marketing and advertising efforts.
• Higher Prices: As a specialist, you can often charge higher prices than non-specialists.
• Memorability and Referrals: Being an expert in your specialty makes you more memorable and helps you get referrals.
• Expert Status: You’re seen as the go-to person in your field

However, it is important to understand that there is a difference between your niche and your target market:

Your target market is the specific group of people you work e.g. women in the City, dog owners, creative female freelancers, brides to be.

Your niche is the service you specialise in offering to your target market.

You get more and better referrals

As it is easier for others to understand what you do. Therefore, it becomes easier for them to refer more and better clients to you. You have built up trust and got more visibility and credibility, and it is clear what you specialise in.

Niche businesses can often be easier and more cost-effective to establish because they focus on specific products or services, eliminating the need to stock the broad inventory that a general business might require. 

The most successful niches are those that address a specific problem for customers. For example, if you had a skin issue, would you prefer to see a general practitioner or consult with a specialist like a dermatologist?

What is an example of a niche?

Your niche could be…

• SEO Services for Private Medical Practices (one of our niches): Focus on offering specialised SEO services tailored to the unique needs of private medical practices.
• Financial Consulting for Tech Startups: Provide financial planning and consulting services specifically for technology startups to help them manage growth and investment.
• Corporate Event Planning for Fortune 500 Companies: Specialise in organising and managing high-profile corporate events for Fortune 500 companies.

Your niche can be a target market, a speciality or both.

For example, your target market might be “executive women” or “high-tech companies.”
Your speciality could be “career transition” or “communication skills.”

Having both a target market and a speciality to define your niche is ideal (e.g. “Executive women in career transition,” or “communication skills for high-tech companies.”)

Let’s pretend you sell trainers. You might say that your niche product is trainers. What if, instead of trying to market to all of the trainer’s customers, you decided to narrow your niche?

Let’s say the trainers you make are specifically designed for running. This way, we can narrow your target market down to runners. There are about 800.000 runners in the UK.

Perhaps your shoe has great arch support, which is perfect for flat-footed individuals. Now, just for the sake of making our point, let’s take it one step further and pick a gender: women. This way, you can cut your market in half to around 400.000.

Now, your target audience is highly specific: “Flat-footed female adult runners who need a shoe with arch support.”

Your marketing messaging is going to be on point because you know exactly who your customer is and what problem you solve for her. This means you’ll get an infinitely better return on your marketing investment.

More examples of a niche market

• Website design/hosting for dental practices
• Public relations services – for plastic surgeons
• Insurance agent / service for taxi/ cab companies
• House sitting for business travellers
• Catering service for special dietary requirements 
• Babysitting service for parents of twins and triplets

How do you create a business niche?

To select your niche, begin by asking yourself these questions:

• Of all the people who could use my product or service, who am I most passionate about working with?
• Who will benefit the most from my product or service?
• Who do I most closely identify with, understand?
• If I have to devote a lot of time and effort to learn about a particular industry or demographic, which one would I enjoy the most?
• Which one do I already know the most about?
• If I were speaking to a room of 100 people and could either give my product away or work with just one of them, who would I choose?
• Give your ideal client/customer a name and describe them in great detail.
  “The people who give me the most positive feedback on my offerings are __________.”

The success of your niche marketing strategy depends on your understanding of them, and your ability to communicate effectively to them.

• Narrow your focus. Get to know your audience. Once you’ve settled on a niche, spend as much time as you can get to know your target audience.
  
• Now identify how you can reach your audience. Optimising your website and blog is important.

• Create a free information product for your niche and market as a giveaway on your website.
  
• Prepare a signature talk for your new audience and begin contacting organisers, podcasters and organisations who would welcome you to speak to their audience, which happens to be the same as yours, of course.

So to really sum it up: niche marketing is a combination of you and your talents and what the market wants and needs.

Decide if you are going to be a niche or generalist. Once you have defined your niche, commit to it 100% and ensure all your marketing and sales promote and demonstrate your niche and specialist skills

Need some help with defining your niche?

You are not alone. Getting external support will really help understand your perfect client and most importantly, deliver more business.

About the Author

Margaret Guillen is a result-driven Business Coach for female entrepreneurs. Contact her for a FREE 30-min Clarity Session and take your first steps towards success.

Get expert guidance on narrowing down your niche and ensuring your business stands out in a crowded market with PinkSEO. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation, and start defining your perfect niche!