Finding Your Niche – 5 ways to be Laser-Focused in Your Business

Define your niche service/product offering. What exactly does your market need, or want? What are their pain points, what are their ambitions and desires and how could you help them? How could you differentiate yourself from your competitors? Define your niche target client/customer base. Who will want your product/service and Why? How big is your […]

1. Define your niche service/product offering. What exactly does your market need, or want? What are their pain points, what are their ambitions and desires and how could you help them? How could you differentiate yourself from your competitors?
2. Define your niche target client/customer base. Who will want your product/service and Why? How big is your market? Know who your competitors are, and do some homework to determine whether they really are competitors at all?
3. Find and educate your referral partners. These are businesses who provide services and products that come naturally before, after or beside your product/service.
4. Price your services/products to attract your target market – (1,000 customers at $10 is better than 10 @ $100 if it doesn’t cost you $50 each to service them).
5. Marke yourself to your niche customers and referral partners, be a thought leader in your niche and talk their language.

Don’t be afraid to be narrow in your focus instead of casting a wide net. Your customers need to be able to connect with you and your service/product – if you’re too broad, you connect with no one.

In your first year or two of business, you may find that you need to test out a few markets to help narrow down your niche – this seems like wasted time and money, but often it’s necessary. Especially when you’re learning how to run a business, determine the costs of delivering your services, and still finding confidence in yourself and your products/services.

You don’t have to do things the way everyone else is doing it. Work out what’s right for you and your customers. Most of the people in my business sector use an entirely different funnel and charging model than I do – but my model, pricing and sales process works well for me, and my customers. Running your own race is critical.

Have an abundance, not a scarcity mentality and approach to your business. If you’re good at what you do, and your product has the best quality or service around, then trust that you’ll attract the right customers- remember not everyone is your customer.

If you get your business niche right, you’ll love what you do, and your customers will too.

Catching the Big Fish

The ones to throw back Business owners too often hold on to the clients that they feel secure in servicing, rather than making the tough decision of letting those clients go, so that they can concentrate on their true, ideal clients. But, as mature business owners, there is one fact we all must face; the […]

The ones to throw back

Business owners too often hold on to the clients that they feel secure in servicing, rather than making the tough decision of letting those clients go, so that they can concentrate on their true, ideal clients. But, as mature business owners, there is one fact we all must face; the sourcing and servicing of a small customer, probably takes just as much time and cost as a large customer – but with far less return on investment.

They say everything is a choice; therefore you must choose what and who you’ll focus the bulk of your energy on.

Where do I begin?

There are 4 key questions you should ask yourself, to prepare for attracting those medium and large size business customers:

1. Do I understand the value of the clients I have now, and the value of those I want to do business with?
2. Have I taken the time to define what my ideal customer looks like and why they are my ideal?
3. Do I know what my ideal customers need/want, and can I give it to them? Or will I need to automate or grow my resources?
4. If I had 10 big clients would I still want to do the small client work?

Each client type has an average value, but how do you work that out?

To keep it straightforward you can use the following formula:

The average Number of Hours/week (or Month) X The hourly rate (or fees charged for that work) – less the cost of sale/servicing them.

Don’t forget to include travel time in your estimates (billable/unbillable).

This should give you some basic ballpark estimates to help think through the value and potential value of your clients.

Sometimes you need help to work through these questions and drill down into the details. Use your peers and mentors, or a business consultant to help you to answer them and make some tough choices.

But like fishing, the bait and equipment you use is entirely dependent on the fish you’re trying to catch.

You can’t use a hand reel off a pier, to catch a Marlin.

Start with a Good Strategy

Taking ownership is the first step Perhaps the problem is how we approached the process in the first place. The person responsible for setting your strategy and defining the outcomes you want for your business, is you – that’s a responsibility you cannot abdicate. All the niche services that can support your business are experts […]

Taking ownership is the first step

Perhaps the problem is how we approached the process in the first place. The person responsible for setting your strategy and defining the outcomes you want for your business, is you – that’s a responsibility you cannot abdicate.

All the niche services that can support your business are experts in their own field – whether that’s bookkeeping, social media, HR, admin systems, or compliance and legal matters.

These experts can’t tell you what your business strategy should be – they base how they work with you on what information you’ve given them. If you haven’t provided clarity about your business strategy and direction, there’s a good chance they won’t be able to get you the results you’re after, no matter how great they are at their job.

Know what you need to know

Recently we’ve worked with a number of small business owners helping them define what they need to have in their overall business, and baseline sales and marketing strategy, so that they can develop a better relationship with their service providers. It’s also helped them to define key questions they need to ask of potential service providers, to navigate who the best fit is, for their needs and available budget.

Knowing what you need to know and taking ownership of a process, gives you the power to outsource the execution of that process to others, in a way that ensures you get the right results and can measure the success of the process effectively.

You don’t need to be an expert in everything to be a great business owner. But you do need to know the right strategy for your business, and be able to give clear direction to the people you engage, to implement that strategy if you want to be successful.

Foundational Business Consulting and the Foundational Business Centre, supports micro and small business owners build strategic business plans. We connect you to the right tools and the right services, for the right job at the right time. Making Small Business Easier.

Need some help call us on 1300SMLBIZ (1300 765249) or email Kerrie@foundationalbusinesscentre.com.au