niche shifting

November 16, 2007 by Mary Wynne-Wynter 

Does having a niche to target increase the SoLo professional service firm’s likelihood of success? Disclaimer: I don’t have a niche. I’ve never had one although I’ve tried. In fact I seem to add niches on at least a quarterly basis. Some niches I try on (RedShift Art is a recent example) and then drop if they don’t feel right.

Just about anything and everything you read by marketing consultants, B-schools, and most entrepreneurs will not only say definitively “yes” to the niche, but insist its a top requirement, and if missing, well, then nobody will ever find you or buy from you or understand your business, products or services. All valid points and I’ve experienced the downside.

But in my experience the “no-niche upside is pretty good, including:

  • cross-learning potential for you, your business, your clients, your clients’ customers
  • different programs and services (with commonalities) for different markets (with commonalities) means greater reach for the global microbrand
  • easier to differentiate your business
  • ongoing creative development potential for the easily-bored generalist

My psf looks like this. Note: its not about randomly jumping on any business that presents itself. Just the opposite. I’d describe it as a professional service provider niche-model: a core concept, multiple programs, many markets, strong global microbrand.

niche shift.png

UPDATE 11/20/07
David Brooks writes today about The Segmented Society and how musician Steven Van Zandt counters the endless drive to segmentation and niches by teaching diverse music appreciation courses to diverse audiences. Bravo Little Steven.

Filed under: Consciousness, career, going solo
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