You don’t have to niche down… you have to create a category

“The riches are in the niches”.

I think I see this almost daily on LinkedIn when consuming content.

And don’t get me wrong, I agree 100% with that affirmation.

But… I noticed people got the term “niche” wrong.

They think niching down is only about providing a very specific service to a very specific audience.

Well… that’s not true.

In fact, it’s something that can hurt your business in the long run because you may just leave money on the table.

Now, before diving deeper into the topic, I want to make you aware of something:

Niching down or creating a category can have a big impact on your business, so please don’t make impulsive decisions.

Better think and rethink the process a couple of times, or engage someone to help you with that.

So, if niching down isn’t the answer… what’s then?

Creating a category.

A category “you own”, where you’ll be able to create your own rules: pricing, way of working, etc.

This is something that can’t be done without proper research before and a deep understanding of the audience and market.

To help you visualize the entire concept, I’ll try to show you an example:

Assuming you are selling let’s say design services, niching down would look something like this:

1. Niching down by service – Building presentations

2. Niching down by target market – Design services for SaaS

3. Niching down by service + target market – Building presentations for SaaS

Probably the “best” version here would be the 3rd, where there is a specific service for a specific market… allowing you to do things differently.

But… why only presentations when maybe your company skills are wider?

(just an example)

In this specific case, if there are multiple “skills available” or different target markets that can be served, then category creation might be the right way.

That’s because you would still be highly relevant to the market you want to target and avoid the “spreading too thin” effect.

Now… in this example, the process of creating a category should be in a strong relationship with the skillset.

If the skills are in design, strategy, and branding, then maybe the category could look something like this:

Creating brands for tech businesses.

The service provided and the target market are still design, but slightly broader.

This gives you the possibility to incorporate in your category exactly the skillset your company has to sell.

This means a better offer… which can bring more revenue.

And…

All of this while making competitors pretty irrelevant.

Because you’re not just a design service provider… you’re having a clear offer and promise.

This means you’re able to create your own rules in this category, because you’re different: your pricing, your workflow, etc.

All of this without leaving money on the table due to niching down when it was a better option.

So, yes… the riches are in the niches, but a niche doesn’t necessarily mean niching down.