Finding Success In A Niche Market

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The phrase ‘niche market’ refers to a specific group of people who are willing to invest in your products and services. Finding success in a niche market goes beyond doing something that you love. Always look for a suitable market first, before creating your products or services. The following suggestions will give you an idea of what to look for before you start the creative process.

1. Choose your area of interest.
The first step is to know what you are interested in and passionate about. List out the following:
• Things that you know.
• Things that you have experience doing.
• Things that people are constantly seeking your advice about.

Once you have this list, going through the next few steps will not feel tedious. Instead, you will feel energised and excited because you’ll be doing homework on subjects you love.

Use the following example to help you make more sense of the process: your dream is to become a published author. Although you were born in Thailand, and still have family there, you moved to the UK many years ago. At present, you work in the sales department of a company that designs websites. Lastly, you love cooking Thai food and people are always asking for your recipes.

2. Locate a market that relates to your interest.
Think about where you are likely to find people who have similar interests to yours. With the above example in mind, consider the following:
• For your publishing dreams, become involved in the publishing industry. You might feel that it is worth joining a reading group or invest in materials to help you get your book published.
• Seek out local printers, photographers and designers to find out the general costs of publishing a book.
• How you are going to sell your book? Since you work for a company that designs websites, consider setting up a website to sell your books.
• Start collating your recipes into some order.

At this stage, you might get the broad idea of the kind of book you’d like to publish – a cookbook that focuses on Thai cuisine. Do not rush to write this book just yet. Do a little more research into what products or services you can provide.

3. Research businesses catering to these markets.
Next, look at existing businesses that cater to these markets. Using the general idea of a cookbook you’d like to publish, collate the following information:
• What cookbooks are being sold at present?
• Do the cookbooks being sold at present have a lot of photographs in them?
• Who is your competition in publishing such a cookbook?
• Are published authors of cookbooks providing ancillary services such as cooking classes?
• How much are people willing to pay for a good cookbook?
• Who are your potential customers? For instance, it’s not enough to know that your customers will be women. You need to know that they will be working women between the ages of 25 and 55 years old. They are already familiar with Thai cuisine. Be as precise as you possibly can when identifying your potential customer.
• Identify the one thing that will motivate your potential customers to buy from you. For instance, because of your long-standing connection with Thailand, you might be the only person who can deliver authentic spices to your potential customers.

The aim of this exact information is to show you how existing companies are catering to a market. You can determine the credibility and perceived value of such products and services.

4. Refine your research.
Next, you must refine your research to expose a market that is untapped and not saturated. Using the internet, you have the ability to gather a wealth of information with the click of a mouse. Join newsgroups, discussion boards and chat with people who are in your industry. For example, you might find people complaining that the size of cookbooks is so cumbersome that they can’t use it in the kitchen. Europeans may love Thai food but cannot obtain essential herbs and spices for Thai cuisine, like lemon grass, easily. After a long day at work, many would like to have their meals delivered to them. When this step is completed, you might have narrowed your ideas to the following:
• You will write a cookbook focusing on Thai cuisine.
• Your cookbook must fit a specific size that your customers will like and use.
• You will create a website to sell your cookbook.
• Since you still have family in Thailand, you can arrange to have spices delivered directly to your customers once they’ve made payment through your website.

Once you have collated all your research, you will have a thorough understanding of what your potential customers want.

In conclusion, establishing a niche market hinges on choosing products and services that people already want. Therefore, when you do the necessary research, you will certainly save a lot of time and money in the long run.


By Avantika