Why Focusing On a "Niche" is Bad for Your Business

Have you heard this phrase before? "The riches are in the niches".?I'm sure you have.?

I hear it all the time from well-meaning individuals who are trying to encourage others to specialize and focus on a particular area. And while there's certainly some truth to that sage advice, I think it's often misinterpreted and misapplied.?

And when that happens, it's as hollow and meaningless as a participation trophy.

I have to admit, this concept didn't fully cement, even for me, until recently when I was working with a client helping them pursue a niche focus for their gym.?

What triggered this line of thinking that I'm about to outline for you was when that client expressed concern about alienating their current clients and having to outwardly turn away anyone who came along and did not fit perfectly into this new niche.

You see, when most people say "the riches are in the niches", they're talking about the work that you take. They're saying that if you want to be successful, you need to find a small group of people who are willing and able to pay you a lot of money for your product or service and ruthlessly turn everyone else away.

But I believe the real riches are in the work that you pursue.?

The work that you take is just a symptom of the work that you pursue. The work that you pursue is the real source of your wealth, abundance, and success. It's the engine that drives your business. And it's what ultimately determines whether or not you'll be successful.?

What we should actually be talking about when we discuss the idea of "niching", in my opinion, is actually Positioning.?

In fact, I've decided (like literally right now as I'm writing this) to create a new term for this concept,?Pursuit Positioning.

Let me explain...

Pursuit Positioning is determined by the answer to this question:?What is the work that you're truly passionate about pursuing??

This is not a question of what work you're willing to take. That's a completely different question. And it's one that far too many business owners get caught up on.

To put it simply, Pursuit Positioning is about the work that you pursue and not the work that you take.

Pursuing a very specific audience for your product or service is excellent marketing strategy. It allows you to create messaging, branding, and marketing collateral that attracts the right people and repels the wrong ones. It helps you to further optimize your ad spend and overall marketing budget.

But it does not mean that you have to turn people away that don't fit a hyper-specific Ideal customer avatar (ICA).?Developing an ICA is a complete waste of time in my opinion anyway. But that's a soap-box I've been on before and I won't do it again here. Check out my blog post titled?"More IPAs = Better Marketing"?if you want more on that topic.

Positioning your brand around what you're truly passionate about will naturally attract those you want to work with and repel those you don't.?And sometimes there will be outliers. Those who don't fall perfectly into your "niche" that may still be a good fit as a client or customer. If you're incorrectly focused on "niching" instead of Pursuit Positioning, you'd likely turn that customer away. But you don't have to!

So, if you want to be successful, you need to first identify what you're passionate about. Align that with a problem you solve and you now have your Pursuit Positioning.

When you do that, the work will take care of itself. The riches will follow.