How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake Entrepreneurs, Experts & Consultants Make When Selecting a Niche

The Lesson

It was a spooky Friday afternoon, and the entrepreneur was dreading choosing a niche…

A common challenge most entrepreneurs fear. Choosing a niche, and who to go after and talk to.

I’ve come to a handful of conclusions.

If you niche too tight, you cut yourself off from opportunities, and sometimes it’s hard enough to find opportunities to begin with.

As the niche gets tighter, so does your TAM. (Total Addressable Market, represents the entire potential market for a product globally.)

Here’s the challenge most face, if you don’t know who you’re talking to it’s pretty difficult to create coherent messaging and a strategy.

If you talk to EVERYONE, no one listens.

Consider the larger creators…

Justin Welsh - Solo-preneuership

Matt Grey - Founders

Dan Koe - Creators

Those aren’t really niches, they’re sub-segments and identities people adopt inside the broader category of entrepreneurship.

Things to remember when choosing a niche:

1. Start with something broad, but specific. Sub-segments are okay.
2. Where do your strengths, passion and interests lay?
3. Choose a niche that has money, it’ll make your life easier.
4. Marketing to an identity is okay, that works too.
5. Sometimes, you’re even talking to your past self.

This is a BIG reason I chose Consultants as my niche.

It’s a specific “target” and it’s also an identity. It’s an aspirational identity, many people desire what being a consultant would bring. Many folks have started consulting, but also are growth oriented people, and they aspire for more.

A really smart friend of mine was once working with AG1 Athletic Greens (you know, the green supplement powder everyone promotes on youtube) and they wanted to target athletes. However, they were having trouble gaining market share.

Athletic supplements is a pretty saturated space, so naturally they'd blend into the sea of sameness. He suggested to them... "Why don't you target aspiring athletes?"

This simple thought, would explode the total addressable marketshare and increase their conversions like crazy.

Aspiring athletes are more likely to try out a green powder, because they have an aspiration to get fit. Convincing a hardcore athlete, they likely have their nutrition pretty dialed in. Anyways, some food for thought as you get closer to your target market. Overtime who you think is perfect will evolve, as you get data and insight.

The Mission

Consultants want freedom, to be valued, and to control their time. They want to choose who they work with and when. They don’t want to work with just anyone. They want to make a real impact with their work.

Why have I chosen to work with consultants? I’ve been consulting for many years, and it has given me an amazing lifestyle. I get to travel the world with my partner, carving my own path.

I’m dedicated to learning and leveling up my skills. In the past 8 years, we’ve visited 23 countries, all while working with clients digitally around the globe.

Every week, we inch closer and closer to a global interconnected world.

The Study

I shared this post yesterday on LinkedIn, Hanna Larsen posted it initially and I decided it was worth a repost and gave her credit because I think it's BRILLIANT.

It's a shining example of overtime, your market can change, shift and evolve.

When Youtube started, they were video dating. "Co-founder Steve Chen tells SXSW conference that ‘we thought dating would be the obvious choice’ – but internet users didn’t agree"

When 壳牌 originated, they sold Seashells! "1833 – 1892 From seashells to the world of oil In 1833, Marcus Samuel decided to expand his London business.

He already sold antiques but decided to try selling oriental seashells as well, capitalizing on their popularity in the interior design industry at that time.

The demand was so great that he began importing the shells from the Far East, laying the foundations for an import-export business that would ultimately become one of the world’s leading energy companies."

The Homework

How can you host more interviews and conversations with your target market?

Doing research, and talking to your people can inform you content and really skyrocket your messaging, your marketing and make a perfect match for what you're working on.

On your side, Troy

P.S. I've put together a small group of folks I'm working 1:1 with to help them land bigger deals, dial in their offers and their positioning so they can sell more projects and work with clients they love. If you have 3-5 clients and you're looking for the next level, this is for you.

Would you like to join The Catalyst program with us at the end of July?

Send a DM "Catalyst" and I'll get you the information.