Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Growth Strategy (41-slide PowerPoint presentation). The reality is: all businesses face the challenge of achieving sustainable Growth. They need viable Growth Strategies.
So, what is Growth Strategy?
It is the organization's high-level Corporate Strategy Plan that outlines everything the organization needs to do to achieve its goals for [read more]
Also, if you are interested in becoming an expert on Strategy Development, take a look at Flevy's Strategy Development Frameworks offering here. This is a curated collection of best practice frameworks based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. By learning and applying these concepts, you can you stay ahead of the curve. Full details here.
* * * *
You know you want to start a business, but what’s holding you back is finding the perfect market niche that will lead to your success. Finding the right niche can be tricky: you could list every passion and interest you have and still come short on what topic you should focus on. If you’re struggling to decide, use these steps to find the best niche for your business.
What Are Your Passions and Interests?
Create a list of niches that interest you, whether it’s visual art, music, or knitting, and try to break it down to something more exclusive. Although you may think that a broad marketing target will attract more customers, it actually puts your business in a weak competitive position. Using knitting as an example, think of things you like to knit – like scarves, dolls, or table cloths.
If you choose dolls, maybe you will only knit pop culture icons like superheroes from Marvel comics. Finding the right business niche can be as easy as determining how you like to spend your free time while also thinking about how you can maintain the drive to preserve. A great way is by pursuing a niche that is small while also capitalizing on your interests.
Can This Niche Turn a Profit?
After choosing a couple of niches you want to explore, you need to determine if that business idea will turn a profit. Establishing a business with a growth mindset is more likely to succeed because you’ll have the profit available to keep making your products. Start by browsing top products in your category – if you can’t find any, that’s a negative sign.
Although having a niche so obscure can be positive, it could also indicate that someone has tried and failed. You need to find a product that has a decent number of products without there being an overabundance. Make a note of price points so you can price your own products competitively while also ensuring the cost of materials and labor is compensated.
What Problems Do You Want to Solve?
People who solve problems turn a profit, even if you solve a problem that people never knew they had. Tupperware innovated the industry by creating a product to store food, but plenty of people would lose the lids that weren’t sold separately. Multiple companies created a niche business by selling off-brand lids or creating Tupperware that used universal lid designs.
What Is Your Competition Doing?
Always research your competition to see why they’re successful while also noting their pitfalls. If you notice that a product you want to make will be of a higher quality than your biggest competition, that can put you in a money-making position. Online entrepreneurs who have a more aggressive marketing strategy or online presence will always beat faceless corporate.
Even if your competition offers a similar product, it doesn’t mean you can compete in that industry and succeed. Sometimes an industry that offers hand-made products will be too busy to deliver to their clients so they’ll buy from you instead. Putting yourself out there is more important than not starting at all due to the fear of competition.
Test Your Idea
Now that you’ve done the necessary research, you can test your idea. A straightforward way to do this is by setting up a landing page for the pre-sale of the product you’re developing. Using paid advertising, you can bring traffic to your page before committing to the idea.
If you don’t get enough money through pre-sales, it doesn’t necessarily mean no one wants your product; it could just mean you’re not in a visible niche. Try to optimize conversion by researching the market further. Plenty of business owners will create content with a blog to drive more clicks to their landing pages.
25-slide PowerPoint presentation
This presentation introduces a framework for entrepreneurs to use when building and navigating their business from a nascent, startup state to an enterprise with a global footprint. This framework, called the 5 Stages of Business Growth, is based on the fact that all businesses experience common
[read more]
Want to Achieve Excellence in Strategy Development?
Gain the knowledge and develop the expertise to become an expert in Strategy Development. Our frameworks are based on the thought leadership of leading consulting firms, academics, and recognized subject matter experts. Click here for full details.
"Strategy without Tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without Strategy is the noise before defeat." - Sun Tzu
For effective Strategy Development and Strategic Planning, we must master both Strategy and Tactics. Our frameworks cover all phases of Strategy, from Strategy Design and Formulation to Strategy Deployment and Execution; as well as all levels of Strategy, from Corporate Strategy to Business Strategy to "Tactical" Strategy. Many of these methodologies are authored by global strategy consulting firms and have been successfully implemented at their Fortune 100 client organizations.
These frameworks include Porter's Five Forces, BCG Growth-Share Matrix, Greiner's Growth Model, Capabilities-driven Strategy (CDS), Business Model Innovation (BMI), Value Chain Analysis (VCA), Endgame Niche Strategies, Value Patterns, Integrated Strategy Model for Value Creation, Scenario Planning, to name a few.
Learn about our Strategy Development Best Practice Frameworks here.
Readers of This Article Are Interested in These Resources
186-slide PowerPoint presentation
This presentation is a comprehensive collection of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) related to Corporate Strategy. A KPI is a quantifiable measure used to evaluate the success of an organization, employee, or process in meeting objectives for performance.
KPIs are typically implemented at
[read more]
76-slide PowerPoint presentation
This document is a growth opportunity assessment approach. The approach is made up of the following steps:
- Understand business/market profile (industry dynamics, customers, competition, company, economics)
- Identify high-level growth opportunities
- Evaluate opportunity attractiveness at
[read more]
26-slide PowerPoint presentation
Developed by Michael Porter, Porter's Five Forces is a classic business framework for evaluating the attractiveness of a particular industry by analyzing 5 forces. It is useful to utilize Porter's Five Forces in conjunction with a SWOT analysis of the industry.
This presentation provides a
[read more]
1691-slide PowerPoint presentation
Curated by McKinsey-trained Executives
Unlock Your Business Potential with the Ultimate Guide to Growth Strategies: 1,600 Slides and 400 Templates Included!
Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Growth doesn't just happen; it's built through careful planning, effective
[read more]