Creating a new business is a daunting task. You will be inundated with thoughts of how the business will be received, if it will be successful, and if it’ll turn a profit in the time predicted. It is of course necessary to put adequate time and energy into answering these questions, but the first thing you must decide is where you would like this business to sit.
Finding a niche for a business is not easy and can often cause the feeling of being penned in or stuck. Nevertheless, it is possible to craft a niche wide enough to give you range and narrow enough to make you stand out as an individual.
First, find your passion
Finding out what your interests are and what drives you is the first step in making sure you stand by your business when times get rough. Over half of small businesses fail in their first five years which is a frightening statistic when you are starting out. But if you can find a passion in business that drives you, the chances of you succeeding will increase greatly. You don’t have to focus on just one passion. Write down a list of ten passions and see which ones naturally join together, perhaps those passions of yours could coexist within the heart of your business.
When you have identified your passions, it is time to find out if others share those interests with you. Use online tools to help you establish if your idea is viable. If there are other ideas like yours out there, make a note of them, they will become your competition.
Learn from others
Once you have discovered that there are other businesses out there who share your interests, learn from their mistakes. Take note of what they do that you agree with and what you disagree with. Knowing what you didn’t like about a company can help you to realize how would you improve the same idea within your own business. Really analyze how your product could enter that niche and become successful. Observe the quality of the content the companies produce, and see how their audiences interact with it. Determine how much of the company’s presence is transparent to their customers, could your company rip the faceless, corporate mask off of this niche and make it more transparent?
Established businesses can be a fountain of knowledge when you are just starting out. Take a leaf out of Leister Tools book. A manufacturer that found its niche and stuck to it. Just because your business idea is very specific, doesn’t mean that its longevity will be threatened, if you are dedicated enough as a business you can grow no matter how narrow your niche is.
Test your idea
Every athlete has to warm up in order to perform their best, as does every business. Test out your idea, have a trial run. Give customers the opportunity to experience your product not just in theory but in practice. Let them have a taste of what is yet to come.
Go for it
Take the leap of faith and put yourself out there. You have carved yourself a perfect niche, settle in and get comfortable because with your great business idea you are going to be here for a while.
