Questions to ask yourself to determine your niche in life and business.
How do you even say that word? What is a niche anyways?
Say Peach! Now replace the P with a N. Niche!
Niche is another way of saying a focus point. It's your business sweet spot! It is the specific market for your brand and ideas. Every brand, product or service can be identified by a niche market. Or at least just about every "established" brand. It is important to identify your niche because it allows you to remain focused and identify a target market which is a key element to success in your business.
Consider niche marketing example, Fenty by Rihanna. While the makeup industry can be considered highly saturated Robyn Fenty showed up and showed out with her recently launched makeup line that has defined beauty in every color. Her niche market is clearly possessed in her 40 shades for 40 shades foundation recognizing women of every possible shade which hasn't been done. Click the image to uncover your shade that perfectly matches your shade.
Fenty was created with a mission to enhance every diverse woman's natural beauty and skin-tone which she conquered to the fullest. This alone provides a solution to women that have a difficult time finding their color with maybe Mac or Bobbi Brown, two very popular cosmetic lines.
Whole Foods is another company recently established that has a rather obvious niche market. Whole Foods target market consists of those conscious of the products that they digest. Those that are know and understand the benefits of organic food. Unlike many other grocery stores they even have a blog (which can be viewed by clicking the photo above) that share recipes and nutrition facts. Ever since the launch of whole foods, the organic food niche has grew rapidly.
Although identifying a niche for your business is important, don't fret. Don't allow not having one right away hold you back from getting up and running. It will come to you in due time. But for those that are interested in being entrepreneurs and starting a profitable business but not sure what kind of business or how you can make money, determining a profitable niche will be in your favor. This step will allow the rest to just flow. Now I must state a disclaimer first, this step can be a little challenging because you want it to be perfect. Yeah we all know nobody is perfect but quite frankly when it comes to our business, our baby, we want it to be perfect! Right?
In the case that you are still struggling with identifying your niche business answer the following questions:
What aren't you good at?
It is important to identify what you are not good at. Many aspiring entrepreneurs view what others are doing and what works for others and presume it will work for them. Admit it to yourself, this is not for you. Whats for me is for me! Whats for you is for you! We have to learn to stay in our own lane. It is okay to not be good at something because whatever you aren't good at, someone else is and thats how we grow and build our business by connecting with subject matter experts.
Passion or Money?
If you're interested in doing it for the money, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Chasing money won't bring you success but working in your passion will. When you do something because you truly have a passion for it success will find you. Why? Passion breeds patience, and patience breeds a successful journey because you won't be distracted by the revenue factor that can discourage entrepreneurs early on. Passion breeds perfectionism because your goal will be to matriculate, to constantly learn and provide valuable resources and products to your consumer. When we chase money we often do not determine what genuinely works rather than what can provide a quick payout. Now if that is what you wish to achieve your niche may be to become a scammer. Now on the other hand, if not, well then identify first whether you have a true passion for what you want to do.
What do you like to do for fun?
Identify those hobbies that bring you peace and joy. Determining this and later discovering how to accrue profit doing something you enjoy doing for fun breeds long-term success. Every successful entrepreneur has one thing in common. That is desire! They desire what their business has to offer others, hence the reason they started a business and hence the variable that allowed them to become successful. Every persons goal should be working in a field where they are doing something they enjoy, where they don't dread waking up in the morning to go to work and where they don't watch the clock to clock out. Fun is a major factor in entrepreneurship. If you aren't having fun during the process, the likelihood of you failing increases.
What are you passionate about?
This question ties into the last two questions. I added this question again to prove how essential this factor is in identifying your niche. Without passion, there lies no purpose.
What do you have to offer?
Do you have anything to offer others? Before you say no, really think and consider the skills and talents you posses whether it is learned or inherited. Whether it is advice or a product that comes with a price. You have something to offer others! You just have to dig deep and determine exactly what is. Many times we assume that having something to offer means that we are experts at something but expertise is learned over time. Once you consider what you aren't good at, what you like to do for fun, and what you are passionate about then you will easily determine how you can offer that to others.
Is it valuable to others?
Value is oftentimes misconstrued with a product for sale while often times value could be information that a person has learned or inherited that the next person just doesn't have the patience, time or desire to learn for themselves that they'd value receiving from the expert. Consider a makeup artist. They possess the skill of "beating" another face. While I may not be the best at doing makeup I have the ability to go to another woman that can and pay to receive this service that I believe is valuable. Consider your role as a consumer. When ever you have purchased a product or service from another person or entrusted a secret to a friend that bestowed some form of value which can be priceless.
Would you mind doing it for others at no cost?
I believe this question is the easiest way to identify your profitable niche. There are things that we do for others at no cost that we'd never consider charging for because we just don't mind doing it while the other person felt you were valuable enough to come to YOU (nobody else) but you for that information or product. Whether that be a recipe or advice on what to wear. With that being said, sometimes we have to consider this value and learn that time is indeed money. If you could accrue a profit from those things you don't mind doing for others for free, well then you have a lifetime career in your passion. For example, if you are that friend that loves to work out and easily holds yourself accountable for going to the gym and others see that in you. You don't mind tagging them along to the gym and coaching them through those challenging exercises that you find so easy. Well then you may perform well as a trainer, or athletic coach.
As an entrepreneur it is essential to identify your niche. While it will not stagnate your entrepreneurship journey it can definitely make it a rather profitable one consider all the elements that one must conquer to meet the needs of their customers. Knowing what your niche is, guides you in the right direction to meeting your perfect customer and making money.