5 reasons I recommend niching your online business
In this article:
If you are an online business owner then I suspect you will have thought about niching. It's a topic I talk with my clients about a lot. Common questions include:
Should I niche my online business?
How do I find my niche?
Is my niche, niche enough?
What happens if I fall out of love with my niche?
Any of these sound familiar to you?
I support clients to build a business in a way that works for them. I don’t believe that there is a right or a wrong answer to any of these questions.
There are lots of successful businesses out there who are super duper niche. Think organic dog biscuits or yoga teachers specialising in postnatal recovery. They sell their product or service to a small segment of customers within their markets.
There are also lots of successful businesses who are not niche at all. They sell their product to a large cross-section of customers. They may also sell a wide range of products or services. Brands like Nestle and Netflix are examples of these.
What is a niche?
Before we dive into the reasons I recommend choosing a niche for your online business. Let's start with a quick definition.
Niche
“a specialised segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service”
Creating a niche means that rather than selling to a very large group, you are selling to a defined group of people. The group are defined by:
demographic traits, for example, age and gender
psychographic traits, for example, their feelings about a topic
When I help clients define their niche, we build up an image of one person who would be their perfect fit customer. Rather than more generally describing a group of people.
Which leads us on to the next question.
Why create a niche?
The main argument that I hear in favour of creating a niche is to position yourself as the expert in your field. As an analogy, if I have a problem with my knee, I will choose a knee specialist over a general practitioner. Likewise, for your potential customer. They will choose you as the specialist to solve their problem.
The problem with this is that it can be uncomfortable to label yourself as an expert. Especially when you are starting out. This discomfort might be modesty from not acknowledging your skill set. But it may also be well founded. It takes time and experience to build up expertise.
I'm not in favour of pushing on through this discomfort but rather easing yourself out of it. And this is where I find niching to be supportive.
Here are the top five reasons that I recommend you consider creating a niche for your business:
1. Clarity for you
With a niche, you can imagine that you are speaking to one person, rather than to everyone. In this way, it helps get clear on the message you want to convey to that person. Without needing to include caveats for everyone else.
2. Clarity for your customers
When your message is straightforward it's easier for your customers to understand too. They can quickly identify if you are the person they want to work with. And if what you are selling helps them overcome their challenge.
3. Save time
Imagining that you are speaking to one person means the words flow with more ease. I support other mums to start and grow their online business. Life is already full for my clients! They are often starting their business alongside a day job. As well as juggling family and household responsibilities. When they have to spend loads of time writing and rewriting a social media post it often doesn't get done at all. Getting clear on your niche is a supportive way to make sure that post gets written and out there in the world.
4. Define your offer
Getting specific about your niche forces you to define the challenge you are offering a solution to. Starting to create you offer from this place makes things straightforward. You can then easily articulate the benefit of the offer to your customer.
5. Get started from exactly where you are right now
In defining a niche, I like to think of the ‘perfect fit’ client. That is the person you can help right now from where you are. To return to the knee analogy above. Most people won't need a world renowned knee surgeon. They might benefit more from a trainee who is super passionate about what they do and eager to learn. You might not feel like an expert in your field yet. But you can be the expert for your perfect fit client.
Many of my clients have are inspired to start their own business from on their own experience. They want to help others through a situation that they once struggled with. They are the perfect fit for someone who is just a few steps behind them on the journey. They know enough, and they still remember what it was like to be there.
Help choosing your niche
If you'd like help in defining your niche, then my Strategy Springboard can help. In one day we will create an avatar of your perfect fit client, where to find her, how to talk to her and what to offer her. Check out the details HERE.