Is your niche too small?

In the past I have discussed the importance of having a niche. A niche is the segment of the market that your business focuses on and sets your business apart from the competition. While it is important to have a niche market that separates you from competitors, you also need to avoid the problem of having too small of a niche.

Recently I saw a note from someone I knew that is having problems with cash flow now because their niche in the market is too small to pay the bills. Now they are expanding into other areas in order to put food on the table.

It is very important when you are doing your marketing plan that you conservatively estimate the size of your market. If you estimate too low and your market is much bigger, so much the better. However, if you estimate too high and there isn't enough market to support your niche, you will not be in business for very long.

In other words, do not look through rose colored glasses when you are doing your marketing plan. Be realistic about the potential of your marketing and be conservative. This also points out how important it is to have that business plan and to keep it updated on a regular basis.

Remember you have plenty of resources to figure out what the market is for your niche so be sure to make the most of them.

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Know Thy Enemy...

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How well do you know your competition?

If your like many small business owners, the answer to that question is probably not well. Many times small business owners are so caught up doing their thing every day, that they forget to keep an eye out on what their competitors are doing.

In previous entries I mentioned how important it is to keep ahead of the competition, especially the big boys, but how can you do that if you are not keeping an eye out for what they are up to. Now I am not talking anything secret agent style here but hey if that is your style, have fun. The main thing you want to do is to find out what their stores look like, how well their employees are trained, how they price, and figure out how you can out smart them.

I would recommend you go out and visit each of your major competitors at least once a month. However, you should also not forget about the smaller competitors and visit them every few months to keep up on what is happening out in the world.

Often times the big players will send out people to shop the competition but they often will not visit locally owned stores because they don't consider them to be important. This can be a major advantage to you since you will know more about them than they know about you.

The more you know about your competition, the better prepared you are to be competitive and ahead of the them.

Starting A Small Business Series Part II

In the first part of the series we talked about getting ideas for you to start your own business. Now that you have a general idea of what direction you want to do, now we will see how marketable the idea is and where you should go with it. We are keeping this very basic for those going from a blank sheet.

Here is a series of questions to ask to start developing your business plan and to insure that your idea is something to run with.

1. Who would buy your product or service?
2. How big is the market for your product or service?
3. Who is your competition?
4. How will you set yourself apart from your competition?
5. What is your niche?

Once you answer these basic questions you will have a better idea of were to go with idea for a product of service.

Be sure that you are very detailed when answering your questions. We will go through each of these questions in the coming weeks.