“Do I really have to pick a niche?”
The answer: Nope, you don’t. But you probably want to.
When you look at someone’s services at their website, there are probably two types of responses:
- Sounds interesting, but.. I’m not sure if this is for me. Do they really understand my situation?
- OMG YES, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for! This person really understands me. I can’t wait to get started.
Guess which business owner decided to pick a specific niche?
That’s right, the second. And in most cases, that’s also the person with the easiest sales conversions and the best fitting customers.
To break this down into details, picking a very specific niche as a new entrepreneur is important for a couple of reasons:
- You are able to speak to your ideal client in a way that they can totally relate to and can’t wait to work with you.
- You are far more likely to stand out and to be remembered
- You can specialize yourself in this area and create unique services that you can’t easily buy elsewhere.
In other words: go pick a niche! In this blog, I’ll show you how to find your niche in 3 easy steps.
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“Don’t try to be something for everyone, just be everything for someone.” |
Find your niche vs. find your passion
You’ll often stumble upon methods that start with ‘Find your passion’. Although that’s important, it sounds like it’s something you can simply find under your mattress. It’s not that simple. In fact, it can be really hard to pinpoint ‘your passion’ and then simply turn it into a profitable business.
From my perspective, these are two different things:
- Find your why: create a long-term vision for your life and new business. This is important to handle hiccups along the way, stay focussed and be patient (it can take a couple of years before things really take off). You can use self-reflection and other exercises to ‘connect the dots’ and understand why you do what you do. Note: My free guide at the bottom of this page is a great starting point.
- Find your niche: Focus on problems, not passions. Step away from your own point of view and focus entirely on your potential client, what he/she really needs and think about potential solutions.
Find your why comes first. Find your niche second.
A simple ‘How to find your niche’ framework
When I needed clarity on my business idea, I tried to find a simple method that could just explain to me what to do in a couple of steps. But apparently, that was too much to ask. I couldn’t find it. Well, not a very practical one at least. So I created one myself, tested it and started using it in my coaching programs.
Here’s my really straightforward framework to find your niche in 3 easy steps:
- Step 1: Decide who you’d love to help
- Step 2: Figure out what they really need
- Step 3: Create a solution around your talents
That’s it! Grab a notebook and let’s get started.
Step 1: Decide who you’d love to help
In this first step, we’re going to shift focus from ‘your passions’ towards the people that you care about and really want to help.
Write down:
- a list of 5 to 10 people that you want to help with your new business
- what industries they work in
- what their job title is
- why them
Don’t just choose a niche because you’re “kind of interested” in it; to be sustainable, it should ideally be something you can see yourself being excited about for at least the next 10 years.
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“No niche is too small if it’s yours.” |
Step 2: Figure out what they really need
The second step is about understanding their needs. This might sound straightforward, but this is probably the most difficult step.
Actions to take:
- Google your potential client is see what they’re talking about online
- Research what others in this niche are offering
- Use Google Trends to estimate your ‘niche market size’
- Do keyword research to see what people are looking for
Doing extensive research and beta testing your services is crucial, simply because not solving a real market need is the No. 1 reason why startups fail. That’s huge. So you want to get this one right.
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42% of startups fail due to “No Market Need” |
Step 3: Create a solution around your talents
The third and final step is about creating a service that you’re really excited about AND solves your client’s problem.
Write down:
- what skills and talents you love to use in your new business
- what type of business you want to build
- how this service looks like
- what the result is
P.s. not all your skills and talents have to be included in your service. For example: if you’re excellent at writing blog posts, you could simply use that skill to grow your own business (instead of becoming a jack of all trades for your clients).
Final thoughts
Keep playing with these three steps until your niche becomes crystal-clear. If you need more help, consider joining my Bootcamp program to get clarity on your business idea. It’s an exciting step-by-step program to decipher your niche and get rid of all the fuzziness.
Let’s nail your niche!
