There Is Nothing New Under The Sun - Why Your Niche Is So Important

We all are familiar with the saying There is nothing new under the sun. For new business owners this makes their niche market even more crucial to their success.

Small Business Encyclopedia defines a niche market as: A portion of a market that you've identified as having some special characteristic and that's worth marketing to. Many small business fail due to trying to please too large of a market and not having a true focus on any section of a market. Small restaurants have menus too large for the small budget to keep up with. Clothing lines try to produce men's, woman's, and children's clothes before they have a loyal customer base to support sales. Being small and on a budget a business must identify their niche and work that, then as they grow build around it. Before failing at a new business endeavor, make sure that the niche market is clearly identified.

1. Know the difference between a field of business and a niche market. A field of business is very broad. A restaurant, a clothing line, a real estate business, a recycling depot, are all examples of fields of business. A niche market is much more defined such as a tee shirt company focusing on athletic events at local colleges located in Richmond, Va.
2. Research your market for a needed niche. Research your market to make sure you haven't been beat to the punch or competing with a giant. Selling frozen yogurt in a market where there is a Sweet Frog already or a sneaker store close to a Foot Locker may not be a wise battle for a new small business. Now this doesn't mean that you should never compete with giants it just means you have to create a clear element to your niche that the giant doesn't do. For example with the increasingly high cost for name brand sneakers some smaller stores have taken to buying and selling sneakers on consignment. Knowing that they can't compete with sneaker giant chains such as Foot Locker head on, by allowing customers to resale shoes that they paid a high cost for, it allows the customer to recoup some of their spent funds and allow the smaller business to get in on the sale and trade of designer sneakers.
3. Choose a niche that you have previous experience or connections. Not unless you have the budget to bring in a team of experts and consultants it would be a wise move to have a niche that you have some experience in. For example a fire fighter that has always had a dream to open a restaurant, may look to opening a restaurant that caters to fire fighters and other public servants. Even middle management can give great experience to new entrepreneurs. For example a person who has managed a mail room for a large business for 10 years wants to start a business consulting firm. Their niche could be focusing on consulting on how to cut shipping cost and how large firms can have effective internal mail operations. Being that a mail room manager would have personal contacts at places like UPS, FedEx, etc. they would have the needed connections to make informed consultations to clients.

The key with having a niche is making sure your business has a focus. A well defined niche will allow a business to keep a tight budget, and properly compete in the marketplace. With a strong niche a small business person can stay aware of any movement in the market that would effect their niche by following certain trades not focusing on an entire industry. A good niche ultimately allows consumers to know what it is that your business does. Despite the fact that humans like to lead ourselves to think we have the next big idea, the reality is that there is nothing new under the sun so be sure to create a niche around that idea.

by Juan "Don Juan Cardova" Braxton
for Don Style Solutions