I was talking with a friend the other day who is just starting his own business. He has a unique product that could help a lot of different people. Trying to help him determine his target audience, I asked him to define his ideal customer. He replied that he wants to help entrepreneurs and small business owners who are struggling with something. I wanted to laugh and cry! That describes me and every other small business owner out there. We are all struggling at some level, and there is always something else that needs our time and attention. So really, every entrepreneur could use my friend’s services; endless possibilities to find clients and meet their needs. Sounds great, right? Wrong! No matter how much you want to, you cannot be everything to everyone. What my friend, and really any business owner needs to do is narrow his niche.
Narrowing your niche may sound counter to what you want to accomplish in your business. Shouldn’t you be thinking about growth and expansion rather than limiting your audience and services? This idea of wanting to serve everyone is often based on fear and misconception. Narrowing your niche is one of the best things you can do to help your business grow and succeed. Rather than letting fear hold you back, here are a few ways that narrowing your niche can help you find what you love and love what you do.
Fear: Limiting the number of potential customers will result in fewer sales.
Reality: Narrowing your niche will help you attract the clients you can best serve and attract more of them. Your marketing message will be better defined and targeted, actually making it easier to find your ideal customer. While it is true that niche markets have fewer customers overall, it is easier to differentiate your products and services. You will be able to reach your ideal customer by focusing on what’s unique to your business, and how you can provide specific solutions. Because these customers are looking for what you have to offer, you will close a higher percentage of sales.
Fear: Narrowing my niche will limit my profitability.
Reality: Specialists in any field are paid more for their expertise. The more specialized your services, the more of an expert you become. Targeted services meet specific needs and produce results. Customers are more satisfied, and thus are willing to pay more. Niche markets are actually less price sensitive as customers focus more on the solutions you provide than the cost of your products. Creating wins for your customers leads to trust and loyalty, giving you even more opportunities to provide additional training, products or services that continue to meet their needs. These customers will also be your biggest fans. They will turn to you for solutions, and they will recommend you to others. You’ll soon find that your business is more profitable than ever!
Fear: I won’t be able to meet all of my client’s needs.
Reality: As hard as you try, you can’t be everything to everyone. By narrowing your niche, you will be better able to deliver a superior service or product instead of wasting time on projects that weren’t a great fit in the first place. You will also have a clear message about what you do and don’t do. Your customers will be better served if everyone knows what the expectations are up front. For example, as an Insightly consultant, I deal a lot with data. While I can scrub your data, I really don’t like to. I’d rather spend my time helping you develop processes and systems that will simplify your business and keep things running smoothly. We’ll both be happier if I refer you to someone else to clean up your data and focus my time on what I do best.
Now that fear is no longer holding you back, how do you narrow your niche and find a better way to do what you love? Start by asking yourself a few questions:
- What do I love most about my business?
- What do I enjoy doing?
- What tasks don’t “feel” like work at all?
- What tasks would I rather delegate or delete?
- Are there things I dread or put off doing?
- What projects am I excited to work on?
- Are there any products or services that I offer that I really don’t like delivering?
- What do I do well?
- What things come naturally for me?
- What would others say I’m an expert at doing?
- What types of things do people ask me about?
- Do I have education, training or certifications that help establish me as an expert?
- What things do I love to explain and teach to others?
- Who are my best customers? Why?
- What types of customers do I enjoy working with the most?
- What products and services do they need?
- Do they have specific problems that I can solve?
- How can I provide specialized solutions for them?
This list should help you start thinking about what you love to do, who you love to work with and how you can provide more focused solutions to a smaller audience. You’ll be able to define your ideal customer, leverage your expertise and provide specialized products and services that provide real solutions. As you narrow your niche you’ll truly be able to find what you love and love what you do.