The simplest and most specific methodology for choosing a niche for business. How to choose a niche for business: step-by-step instructions Catalogs of Western online stores

Many professionals dream of moving from wage labor to their own business - to open their own business. Fortunately, modern technologies allow almost everyone to provide services or sell goods both offline and on the Internet. The question arises of choosing a niche for business.

What is the first thing most people do? - Searching the Internet for business ideas.

This is a failed strategy. If you consider starting your own business as an escape from reality (for example, the country is in a difficult economic situation, or your specialty is not in demand on the labor market), your idea may fail.

When opening a business, it is important to develop in yourself 3 key qualities of an entrepreneur:

I. Be prepared to take risks.

An entrepreneur is, first and foremost, a person who operates under conditions of risk. All categories of the self-employed population, which can be called entrepreneurs: merchants, farmers, artisans, one way or another take risks. They buy at a known price and sell at an unknown price.

This is one of the first concepts of the concept of "entrepreneur" by the English economist Richard Cantillon.

Yes, it's a profession!

Like the profession of a doctor, an artist or an engineer should be taken seriously.

II. Be persistent. Perseverance keeps you moving forward despite setbacks. We wrote about 5 ways to be persistent.

III. Be techy.

So, let's move on to the technology of choosing a niche.

Niche selection technology

Don't start with someone else's business idea.

And do not start with your own business idea, even if it seems brilliant and terribly promising to you.

Look at the business through the eyes of the market.

After all, an entrepreneur is a profession aimed at satisfying the needs of customers and at the same time making a profit for themselves.

That's why key to success in building a business choosing the right niche.

A niche for business is a foundation, the reliability of which will support the entire further existence and development of a business.

What is a niche in business?

A niche is the difficulties, problems (“pains”) of potential customers that you, as an entrepreneur, need to solve.

When you open a new business, the first step is to carefully assess the market, its capacity, competitive environment and composition (conjuncture) - who sells what, how and for how much.

Often the arrogance of many entrepreneurs is expressed in the fact that they choose a niche based only on their own opinion and understanding of the market. Without any research.

But. If you do not conduct primary market analytics, then you are completely not protected from risks.

As a result, after some time you will realize that the niche is not in demand.

Ask yourself and your companions 5 basic questions:

1. What do I like and what do I want to do?

You need to love your job, because over time: problems, difficulties or banal instability can get boring, and without love for business, the business will collapse.

2. Will I be interested in this business in 2-3 years?

Business needs to be built in the long term, if it is not originally conceived as a one-time project. Understanding the long-term nature of your undertakings will give strength to development.

3. Is my customer motivated by pain, urgency, or strong emotion to buy my product or service?

If in this niche you see a real, urgent need for customers who are only “sleeping and thinking” how to solve this issue, then this is your niche.

4. Are clients looking for solutions?

Do potential customers have a desire to find a solution to their problem?

5. How many solutions does the market offer them? What are your competitors offering? How well do their proposals meet the requirements of the client?

All novice businessmen usually face the same problems and mistakes.

Top 6 mistakes when choosing a niche:

1. Selected too "wide" niche - a large number of more professional competitors, competitors with a strengthened brand, demand is almost equal to supply.

2. Selected too narrow niche - too few people are looking for solutions to this problem.

3. The project is launched without testing- when the decision is made for the client, without testing the product for demand.

4. An item is selected that nobody needs- look “soberly” at what you want to sell.

6. Positioning not from the "pain" of customers, but starting from the product, but - this approach is found all the time.

Now let's check how your idea of ​​your niche is confirmed by the consumer mass.

Consumer Opinion Monitoring

Go to forums, polls, conduct direct interviews on social networks or among acquaintances.

You must understand:

1. Is your offer interesting for the segment you are targeting;

2. What will be the main reason for contacting you (why customers will choose you);

3. What flaws in your idea people point out.

It is also recommended to analyze the key queries on http://wordstat.yandex.ru and calculate how many people actually turn to search engines with a query that is relevant to your offer. In the same place, in the block "Requests similar to ...", you can find a useful hint for yourself.

For example, in the screenshot, the output for the query “training courses”:

From the above example, we can conclude that people are actively interested in the subject of education, and we can assume that they are willing to pay for it. At the moment, this market is estimated at an average of $500 million per year in Ukraine.

Once you've decided on a niche, consider how you can communicate your unique selling proposition to consumers.

Mark your position

Your message should be clear, unambiguous and short. The simpler it is, the more likely it is to be understood correctly by consumers.

You just made a small but very an important investment for your future business, - the time you spent reading this article will help you find the most interesting and sought-after direction for business. And its development will bring you not only great pleasure, but also a decent profit.

Save this mindmap for yourself so you can refer back to it whenever you need to!

Sooner or later, a person faces the question: continue to work "for an uncle" or try his hand at his own business. Independent business means personal and financial independence, realization of ambitions, status. But at the same time, these are increased risks and full responsibility for the final result. The success of future entrepreneurship is largely determined by the correct choice of a business niche, which we will discuss in this article.

1. Decide on a business direction

Choosing a direction for future activity is the most important step for a novice businessman. No need to rush headlong into the first (albeit popular) idea that comes across. It is necessary to soberly assess not only the prospects of the direction, but also your own opportunities for entering the chosen sphere and developing in it. It is desirable that the niche meets at least one (and ideally all) criteria:

• The chosen direction should be pleasant. A business that you do with pleasure is more pleasant and easier to develop. Many businessmen called themselves happy just because they turned a hobby into a business. As a result, you receive both moral and material rewards.
• You need to have competence in the chosen direction. Even if your niche profile is quite competitive, good professional knowledge and skills should help you take your market share.
• The offered services and goods must be in demand. The well-known formula from classical economics “demand creates supply” is relevant at all times. Of course, there are high-risk areas in which venture companies bring fundamentally new products to the market: in fact, the reverse formula works - the manufacturer creates demand with the help of a completely new product or service. But this option is more suitable as an additional one in the presence of an existing effective business. At the initial stage, the risks must be justified.

2. We evaluate the prospects

It's good when you have a clear idea of ​​what you want to do and how to go about it. But most often, when choosing a niche for a business, throwing between different options begins. Therefore, it is better to make a short list of ideas that, in your opinion, will “shoot” in your execution. With this list in place, you can begin to evaluate each idea more carefully in terms of opportunities and threats.

First of all, you need to understand two things:

• Who is your consumer in each potential niche.
• What are the prospects for each direction.

You need to clearly understand what customer needs your business will cover. Potential consumers are money, and they need to be evaluated using various mechanisms: surveys of acquaintances, thematic forums, groups on social networks, expert opinions. It is necessary to draw up portraits of consumers for each chosen niche.

The chosen area should have development prospects. It makes no sense to invest in a direction that, although it is in demand now, has a tendency to "collapse" in the near future.

3. Weigh our options

The entry threshold is different everywhere, and this is influenced by various objective and subjective factors. When evaluating each promising niche, these factors should be taken into account, even those that at first glance may seem insignificant:

• Competition. You need to understand who your competitors are and what advantages you will give to potential customers. If the offer in a niche is excessive, and you are not ready to offer competitive advantages, then even knowledge and desire will not help you gain any significant position in the market.
• your potential. It is about internal and external potential. Evaluate not only your personal capabilities, but also the capabilities of your environment. A childhood friend can become the first supplier of components, a wife's girlfriend can become a target audience and at the same time word of mouth advertising, an influential acquaintance can become a lobbyist of interests in the chosen market.
• Start-up capital. It is important to understand the source of funding for starting a business. And if for the service sector this will not be the most significant amount, then for the manufacturing sector it is quite decent. It’s good if you have enough of your own funds, but will you be ready to donate someone else’s or borrowed money?

Careful study of all factors for each chosen niche will help to gradate and compile your personal rating of business ideas. And then it remains only not to be afraid to take the first step.

4. We count correctly

Drawing up a preliminary business plan for each idea is a rather laborious, but necessary step. It is important to understand that "the game is worth the candle" because the ultimate goal of any business is to make a profit. Doing business for the sake of the process itself is wrong and will eventually lead to financial ruin.

It is the insufficient depth of immersion and excessive optimism in the calculations at the initial stage that is the main reason for the unprofitability and bankruptcy of most novice businessmen. When calculating, you need to focus on a pessimistic forecast. Even a seemingly promising direction with many unmet customer needs is far from a guarantee of a flow of consumers in the early stages of business development. The path from a potential client to a real one is quite long, and you need to be ready to go through it “in the red”.

When drawing up a preliminary business plan, you need to calculate:

• One-time expenses at the very beginning. This may be the purchase of the necessary equipment and tools, the cost of registering an individual entrepreneur or legal entity, buying a franchise, licensing, etc. These costs are one-time and make up the bulk of the start-up costs.
• Current or monthly expenses. This includes rent of premises, salaries of employees, utility bills, bank services, tax deductions, purchase of components and other costs. You need to look at what you can save on at the beginning, and certain types of work (accounting, website maintenance) can be outsourced. At the same time, you need to have a “margin of safety” for at least three months, and preferably for six months, i.e. be prepared to finance current costs out of your own pocket.
• Income plan or revenue. This is exactly the calculation for which optimism is the main enemy. Estimate revenue prospects based on the lower bound to be ready for reality.
• Supply plan. This is not an actual problem for the service sector, but an important one for production. The production process must be provided with materials and components evenly and constantly.

A preliminary business plan is different from a full-fledged one, but it is quite enough to assess the possibility of entering the chosen business niche.

5. Making the final choice

After going through the previous 4 steps, you will see a more or less clear picture for each business idea. You have preliminary calculations, an assessment of each direction and an understanding of what needs to be done. After weighing the prospects of each idea according to the proposed methodology, at the end you will get a very real niche for your own business.

Be prepared for difficulties in the early stages and be patient: the return on investment is not a matter of one month. But the prospects that open up are worth it to start your own business.

Choosing a niche for a business is an unexpected challenge for both an aspiring entrepreneur and people who are already doing business. Choosing a niche for a business directly affects success. If you have gone (already going) the wrong way, then get ready to constantly overcome the difficulties that will appear again and again on the way.

Therefore, approach the choice of a niche consciously: analyze, compare and understand the profitability. This is better than banging your head against the wall and trying to sell a product that no one wants.

Choosing a niche for business - misconceptions and myths

People build their own barriers in business. Invent new products, want to be unique and try to cheat the system.

Some succeed. But 99% of entrepreneurs with an "innovative" product quickly go out of business.

Less competition - more money!

A common misconception is that you should choose a niche where there is less competition. This is fundamentally the wrong approach. Just a high indicator of competition says that money is spinning in this direction.

Turn on logical thinking. Would hundreds of people mess around with a business that doesn't make money? Obviously not.

This leads to the following misconception - customers have already been sorted out. It is not true. There are always clients.
Select your target audience from billions of people and work for it. The problem is not in the number of customers, but in the right offer and a well-developed product.

The business idea must be unique

The choice of a niche for a business depends on the uniqueness of the idea - absurd! Quality of service, demanded product, quick response to market changes, well-organized marketing - these are the basics that will help you grow your business and make money.

Of course it's great if the idea is new. The catch is that it's harder to promote something new. You essentially have to create a market and instill a culture of product consumption. This requires a lot of money. This point is worth considering.

Clients contacted our agency with new ideas and… 50,000 rubles for promotion. We refused them. Since the amount is small and people simply do not request such a product on the Internet.

If you have a new idea that has been tested on other people, then it is worth entering the market through the media, plus promotional budgets for at least 1 year in advance. Or find an investor who will make financial injections into the business for a share of the company.

I like the idea, and so do others.

It's great when a person burns with an idea and is in love with a product. However, here lies the catch. A person believes in his product so much that he forgets about:

• real demand;
• marginality and transaction cycle;
• break-even point calculation;
• taking into account the market trend and analysis;
• payback period of investments in the project;
• analysis of competitors and target audience.

As a result, choosing the wrong niche for a business can lead to problems and cash gaps. The scary thing is that at the same time, the entrepreneur blames himself for the lack of an "entrepreneurial streak", for not being smart enough, etc.

Stress begins, despondency, business closures and ... going to work for hire. Although the only thing that had to be done was to analyze the niche in cold blood.

Make a list of at least 100 niches that you like and analyze each of them according to the following criteria:

• demand;
• marginality;
• transaction cycle;
• complexity;
• investment volumes for launch and payback period;
• market trend;
• the presence of successful businessmen who earn millions in this niche; on how much, on a scale of 10, do you like the niche that you are analyzing.

Pavel Ugryumov

Choosing a niche for business: obvious and non-obvious niches

Niches are divided into obvious and non-obvious. The former are attractive because they are a final and simple product.

The second - complex, which are involved in the production process of the obvious. You can choose either type. Each has advantages and disadvantages.

Obvious Niches

Obvious niches - business on the surrounding things that we see. Take a look around: furniture, cars, real estate, books, and so on. These are end products that are in mass demand.

Advantages:

• easy to understand and quickly delve into a niche;
• established market;
• easy to analyze;
• many requests.

Disadvantages:

• a lot of competition, therefore a high threshold for entering the market;
• it is difficult to stand out among competitors;
• high risks.

Non-obvious niches

Highly specialized lines of business that are involved in the process of creating the final product. These are components for equipment, chemical reagents, etc. That is, in ordinary life, such products are not found.

Building a business in an unobvious niche is only worth it if you are a master in this direction. For example, you have a higher education in biology, worked in a relevant industry enterprise, and then decided to open a business on this topic.

Another example is the services of a forester, who provides services for the allocation of zones for deforestation in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Working for hire, a person received 70,000 rubles a month. He quits because the salary is not raised, but at the same time remains the best professional.

Opens a business and works with a former employer already on a contract basis. In this case, the check is no longer calculated in thousands of rubles, but in millions.

Only a person who has reached the "master" level can advance and earn money in highly specialized niches.

If you try to become only an organizer, you will encounter staff turnover and will not be able to fully control the process of providing services.

Advantages of non-obvious niches:

• much less competition, while the demand for services is quite high;
• low entry threshold;
• minimal risks;
• the possibility of self-pricing.

Disadvantages:

• you must be a specialist who has vast experience;
• you need to analyze the demand for a highly specialized niche very well;
• at the beginning of the journey, it is quite difficult to earn quickly and a lot.

You learned about the fact that niches are obvious and non-obvious, and got acquainted with their features. Which one to choose? You decide. The main thing is to take into account the recommendations and do a niche analysis before investing money, time and effort in the chosen direction.

Choosing a Niche for Business: Trending Directions

This type was decided to be taken out separately. Trend niches are similar to the obvious ones, but have a number of features. This is where product demand analysis plays a key role.

For example, goods from China are ideal products to sell, but only at the moment when the demand trend for them is at its peak.

This type of niche needs to be entered immediately and done quickly. The task is not to build a stable business, but to hit the jackpot and move into another trending niche.

Let's take a GPS watch as an example. At one time, they could earn millions of rubles in a short period of time.

Now the demand trend is steadily falling and if you want to enter this business, then in 90% of cases you will lose money or hit the breakeven point.

But for electric bikes and scooters, the trend is growing (2018). You can safely enter this niche. The main obstacle will only be finding a reliable supplier who will not let you down.

Advantages:

• the ability to earn quickly and a lot;
• deep knowledge of marketing is not required;
• high demand at the peak of the trend.

Disadvantages:

• business is not forever - as soon as the trend starts to fall from this direction, you should leave;
• risks - the supplier failed, they did not have time to sell quickly, demand fell and you are in flight;
• the case is not suitable “for the soul” - the main task is to quickly buy, quickly sell and get a margin;
• you need to closely monitor trends, the slightest mistake and you are in the red.

Choosing a niche in business - algorithm and analysis tools

Choosing a niche for a business should start with a demand analysis (this does not apply to unique ideas). In the USSR, the model of the superiority of supply over demand worked. In simple terms - "take what they give."

If you have studied modern economics, you know that demand creates supply, and not vice versa! Trying to impose a product on the market is a path to bankruptcy.

1. Demand analysis

Demand is easy to analyze. To do this, you need to go to Yandex.Wordstat and enter the request of interest on time.

To find out the demand for a purchase, add the word “buy” to the request. For example, "buy an electric scooter." Do not forget to select the region where you plan to sell goods or services.

Find out how to analyze demand in practice from the video in which our leader Pavel Ugryumov will review the Yandex.Wordstat service.

2. Analysis of competitors

Choosing a niche in business is impossible without analyzing competitors. Find out which players are on the market, how much they earn, what promotion methods they use, and what size budgets are allocated for promotion.

Imagine the following situation: you decided to repeat the success of one project, but did not analyze a competitor that receives hundreds of thousands of dollars of investment from America for promotion.

And you have 50,000 rubles to launch. What will happen? With 100% probability, you will fail, because you cannot even be at the level of your opponent.

If you analyze competitors, you will understand whether it is possible to enter the market and whether it is worth it.

Evaluate competitors according to the following algorithm:

• product line - what they sell;
• determine the best-selling product;
• unique properties of the product;
• determine the marketing strategy - what tools to promote / attract customers are used;
• find out the points of contact with the audience;
• calculate the effectiveness of advertising channels;
• check the competitors' sales algorithm (yes, we leave orders, call, buy);
• define sales channels;
• check the chain of work with the client;
• find out the availability of sales scripts;
• determine the average check, the number of applications, sales and market coverage among the analyzed competitors.

The result of competitor analysis

Based on the data received, you will understand what the state of affairs is in the market and whether you can take a piece of the pie. Also, based on the analysis of competitors, conduct a SWOT analysis that will help you stand out from competitors.

If you do not want to bother and waste time analyzing competitors, then delegate this process to our agency. Just click the button below and apply:

Choosing a niche for a business depends on the target audience. Knowing the target audience will help you understand whether you can meet the needs of customers at the level or better than your competitors.

Also, the knowledge and understanding of customers in the future will greatly simplify the promotion and development of business. TA is the foundation of the project. Understanding the pains, fears, desires and needs of the audience will ensure a flow of customers.

If you want to learn more about the target audience, then we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the course: "". To find out more, just click the button below:

* Remember! Anyone who knows the target audience has no problems in sales!

4. Estimate Marginality and Deal Cycle

The choice of a niche for a business is influenced by the marginality of the product and the transaction cycle. These two factors are closely related.

Product margin is the difference between the selling price and the product cost price. In simple terms - net profit from the sale.

Look at how profitable the margin is in the chosen niche. The higher the net profit, the better. But there are nuances with the deal cycle.

The transaction cycle is the time that passes from the moment of contact with the client until the moment of receipt of income. As a rule, the higher the margin, the longer the cycle and vice versa.

For example, a grocery store has a deal cycle of 60 seconds, but the margin is quite low. Another example is real estate. Here the margin is much higher, but the time of the transaction takes weeks or months.

Determine the margin to cycle ratio and choose the option that suits you best.

5. Determine where the soul lies

After analyzing the niche according to dry statistical data, you will get a dozen directions. To choose, we advise you to focus on knowledge and love for a niche. If you start doing a profitable, but not your favorite thing, then nothing productive will come of it.

Love business, love customers! Well, we wish you success, high checks and a lot of positive!

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Free market segments can be found in almost every area of ​​business. The most important thing is to consider their prospects in time. The 2019 business niches presented in this article are great for starting a new business. They are of great interest in society, so they are guaranteed to bring a good income.

Choose a field of activity

Before you decide on the choice of an actual niche for a business in 2019, you need to decide what you want to do - production or provision of services. If we talk about the choice of the direction of activity in general terms, recently the highest profitability has been shown by the "green business".

It could be:

• Processing of secondary raw materials;
• Alternative energy sources;
• Cultivation of medicinal plants;
• Growing organic vegetables and fruits;
• Production of natural cosmetics.

Modern people are concerned about the state of the environment, so any business associated with improving the environmental situation is doomed to success. Take an interest, find a suitable idea and try to convince them to invest in it.

With a competent approach, any free niche in the business of 2019 can become highly profitable and promising. In order not to make a mistake with the choice, focus on those areas of activity in which you have certain knowledge and skills. At first glance, it may seem that an empty niche for a business from scratch is the best option for an aspiring entrepreneur. But, if you are a beginner in a particular area, it is unlikely that you will be able to correctly develop a strategy and calculate all possible risks. Therefore, before deciding which business niche to occupy, you need to objectively assess your knowledge and financial capabilities.

Features of choice

Not all fresh ideas show high profitability in practice. Before choosing a free small business niche in 2019, you need to find answers to a few questions:

1. What is the target audience for your business?
2. Will your idea interest consumers?
3. Why will customers choose your product or service?
4. Are there any downsides to your chosen line of business?

When determining the target audience, it is necessary to pay attention to the age range of potential customers, the gender factor, as well as their social status and income level. Do not forget that choosing a niche for a business from scratch is a very important and responsible stage, on which the success of your future business largely depends.

Especially carefully study all the weaknesses of the new business niche of 2019 and its shortcomings. Collect useful information on social networks or conduct a small survey among your friends and acquaintances. After you carefully analyze the results, you can begin to develop a business plan.

Over the past decade, the list of working business niches has been significantly updated. We present to your attention a few that are guaranteed to bring a good stable income.

Mobile service

The number of people with smartphones is constantly growing, so the mobile service can be safely called the most demanded niche for business in 2019. What can you do?

• Development of mobile applications. Nowadays, almost all large companies use various applications to promote their services or products. In addition, interest in such a product began to grow in the banking sector;
• Mobile versions of sites. According to opinion polls, about 75% of our country's citizens access the global network through mobile devices. Based on this, we can conclude that in the future the demand for the development of mobile versions of sites will grow;
• Payment services. This is a fairly profitable niche in 2019, which allows you to receive decent income. But in this business it is impossible to do without innovative technological solutions;
• Lead generation. According to statistics, 70% of Internet users get to various sites from social networks, respectively, they are the main source of lead generation. This business niche of 2019 has a lot of freelancers, but despite this, it needs a unique selling proposition.

If you are looking for free niches in business in Russia, be sure to pay attention to this area of ​​activity.

Handmade

Nowadays, for the production of various products, mainly artificial materials are used, so the demand for something natural and, at the same time, original has begun to grow. As a rule, such unique products are made by hand, so they are not cheap. If you are creative and love to do manual work, you can start related to the production of handmade products. There are no big players in this market segment, so the level of competition here is quite low.

What can be produced?

• Exclusive clothes and accessories;
• Handmade jewelry;
• Christmas decorations;
• Festive decor;
• Author's dolls;
• Original interior items;
• earthenware, etc.

Handmade ideas are a great way to.

The medicine

Recently, manual therapy has become very popular. People who are not helped by conventional medical treatment often turn to alternative medicine. The demand for such services is growing every year. This is a great niche to start a business as it is highly profitable and does not require a major financial investment.

The second place in popularity is occupied by specialized clinics - cardiological centers, ultrasound rooms, etc. Of course, in order to occupy such a profitable niche for business in 2019, serious capital investments will be required, but the service in highly specialized clinics is not cheap, so you can quickly return all your initial investment.

Dental offices are very popular. Modern people want to have a personal dentist who can be visited at a convenient time for them. The most important thing in this business is the low-cost quality services provided with comfort.

Before choosing a niche for a business, weigh the pros and cons to avoid serious mistakes at the start.

Food

Aspiring entrepreneurs are often interested in what business niches will develop in a crisis? The answer is simple - everything related to essential goods, and in particular, food.

What can be done?

• Organize production. We are not talking about huge enterprises here. For example, you can do homemade sweets, conservation, pickles and more;
• Trade. Do not rush to open the store right away. To get started, try selling pastries or cakes to order via the Internet. This is enough ;
• Food delivery. This is another in-demand business niche for 2019 that has yet to be filled by other entrepreneurs. You can deliver hot meals or pizza from nearby cafes or cook them yourself at home. If you want to do such a thing, you first need to objectively assess your capabilities. Most likely, you will have to hire an assistant or enter into a cooperation agreement with a courier delivery service.

Food production and trade are among the top business niches for start-up entrepreneurs. This line of business is in demand in any economic conditions, so it will be guaranteed to bring a good stable income.

Education

Related videos Related videos

How to sell your knowledge? There are many options:

• Write books or small manuals on a topic that you are well versed in;
• Shoot video tutorials and sell them online;
• Develop various training courses;
• Conduct trainings and seminars;
• Offer advice to clients.

Choose, in your opinion, the most successful business niche and start acting. Nowadays, many people strive to gain new knowledge, so you will not lack customers.

Repair

Due to the crisis, many people are in no hurry to throw away old things that need to be repaired. If you know how to repair household appliances or furniture, you should not think for a long time about which niche to choose for your business. Open a repair shop and start earning money. Even if you do not understand technology, you can rent a room, purchase the necessary tools, equipment and hire qualified specialists. In principle, it is possible to carry out repairs at customers' homes. This option is suitable for beginners who do not have money to rent a room for a workshop. By the way, this is very convenient for customers, since certain problems may arise with the transportation of large household appliances, such as a refrigerator or a washing machine.

One of the best niches for business in 2019 is turnkey apartment renovation. Such activities will bring good profit in 2020. There is one secret in this case. Most often, customers do not understand the quality of work, but they always evaluate the level of service. If you want your business to develop, do all the work strictly on time.

findings

Starting any business comes with certain risks. But if you can find the most promising business niches of 2019, you can quickly achieve great success. Take risks, experiment and luck will surely smile at you.

This article is devoted to the question of the correct positioning of a business in a competitive environment. Why choose a niche. how to do it, what advantages this approach gives, you will learn from the article. We offer you a practical case on choosing your own niche.

What is a niche in business and why is it needed

Surely you have repeatedly seen this picture: there are two almost equivalent companies operating on the market, both well-known, successful, and strong. But with all the similarities, they coexist peacefully, and there is practically no competition between them. Why? The answer lies in choosing the right niche for each organization. Here are some examples for clarity:

• Rastishka (Danone) and Tema (Unimilk) trade marks peacefully coexist on the Russian market: the former has chosen a niche for health-improving fermented milk nutrition with vitamin supplements, the latter is positioned as a product for everyday use in the children's diet;
• world-famous clothing brands of Inditex - Zara and Bershka do not compete with each other, as they are focused on different audiences: Zara is designed for a more static image and age from 25 years old, Bershka - a purely youth brand, where almost all things are avant-garde, bright. Naturally, both brands have clothing lines for adjacent segments.

When a new business is opened, the first thing an entrepreneur carefully evaluates the market, it, and the composition of the market (conjuncture) - who, what, how and for how much sells.

For example, a jeweler opens his workshop for the repair of products. There are many such workshops in the city, and all of them are of a wide profile (that is, they take any product into work). Then the entrepreneur decides to strengthen his ability to compete by choosing a narrow niche (in marketing this is called positioning) and designate his services as "Jewellery for the repair and maintenance of diamond products."

What does this give the entrepreneur? Firstly, a clear position and designation of specialization, and secondly, a solvent audience. The owners of diamond jewelry are not poor people and they are more willing to entrust their jewelry to someone who clearly specializes in such work. This means that a jeweler can keep the price bar high enough for his services and work with a narrow but profitable segment.

So, a niche is an unoccupied or not fully occupied place in the market, which allows an entrepreneur to show his advantages over competitors. attract more customers and do your job as well as possible.

Step 1. Analyze free and occupied niches

In order to determine what is already on the market and what is not, check out our article "Analysis of competitors in 10 steps: a practical guide." When analyzing existing offers, pay attention to how competitors position themselves, what advertising messages they choose:

Step 2. Analyze your own skills and preferences

In the niche process, it is important to understand what you are good at, what you are more interested in working with, how you are ready to build your business. If an athlete-bodybuilder opens his own gym, where he trains those who wish, this will be logical and more in demand among clients than the same service from a clerk.

The scheme for determining its capabilities is as follows:

It is not only about your personal abilities, but also, in general, about the real situation, the availability of suppliers, capital, and potential. For example, you like the restaurant business, you know a lot about organizing such a business, but you don’t have the money to open your own restaurant, but you have the contact of an excellent manufacturer of high-quality restaurant utensils. Occupy the niche of a company that equips expensive restaurants with high-quality dishes. All your knowledge and skills will come in handy here, as well as access to a manufacturer of dishes - this is how you make your personal interests profitable.

Step 3. Find your niche

When you have information about what is on the market and understand what exactly you can do well yourself, it's time to decide on niches. The most common types of simple niches in busy segments are:

• specialization in legal entities or individuals (for example, Internet providers "Business IT" and "Home Telecom");
• gender division of the product ("Maxim" - a magazine for men, "LQ" - the first matte magazine for women);
• price division (deli "Economy" and deli "Gourmet delicacy");
• age ranking (vitamins "KinderBioVital" and "SilverVit").

There is also a complex niche when there are 2-4 elements, for example, by gender, age and price (status division can also be added): BGN is high fashion for self-confident young women.

When choosing a niche, one must clearly be aware of who it is aimed at and how it differs from those offers that are already on the market.

Returning to the example of opening a jewelry workshop, we can suggest the following types of narrow positioning:

• economy workshop for the repair of precious items - a niche focused on people who do not have much income and value their jewelry very much. In this case, there will be a lot of work and for the profitability of the business, orders must be a constant stream. The requirement for the entrepreneur is the speed of work;
• the already announced workshop for the repair and prevention of diamond jewelry is aimed at an audience with a high income. In this concept, there will not be many customers, but each order will be quite highly paid. Requirements - ultimate quality and responsibility;
• urgent jewelry repair and engraving - such a niche will attract those who buy jewelry as a gift and those who want to quickly fix a broken item. Here the cost of work may be higher than the average market (margin for urgency). The requirement is care and quality;
• workshop-studio offering the modification of old products and their alteration - orientation to creative people who want to get original jewelry at a low price. The cost of work is medium and high. Requirements - creativity. creativity, courage of ideas, experience.

At this stage, you can choose 2-3 niches close to you.

Step 4. Checking viability and relevance

Now we check. to what extent your choice and your idea of ​​​​your niche is confirmed by the consumer mass. This can be done using consumer opinion monitoring (forums, surveys, direct interviews on social networks or among acquaintances).

You must understand:

1. Is your offer interesting for the segment you are targeting;
2. What will be the main reason for contacting you (why customers will choose you);
3. What flaws in your idea people point out.

You can also analyze key queries on http://wordstat.yandex.ru and calculate how many people actually turn to search engines with highly specialized queries. In the same place, in the block “What else people searched for “your request” were looking for”, you can find a hint for yourself:

Step 5. We develop an advertising message and a clear visualization

Once you have decided on a niche, you need to figure out how to communicate your unique selling proposition to consumers and identify the position. This is done through advertising. To get familiar with the topic. how global brands position themselves, you can visit the database of slogans and use examples to evaluate the principle: tell the client why you are better than others.

Clearly visualizing niches for our jewelry workshop, let's call it, you can use advertising messages in the following bundles:

• Economy workshop N - the second life of your jewelry;
• Jewelry workshop N - we work only with diamonds;
• Repair and engraving in 15 minutes - .Jewellery N;
• Everything new is well modified old. Creative workshop N.

your task in such a short address is to tell the client what makes you different from others, to be remembered and stand out.

Mistakes when choosing a niche

The most common mistakes in the niche selection process are overconfidence and lack of expertise. It is impossible to correctly form your offer in a niche for business clients if you do not know the elementary laws of workflow in large companies. It is impossible to trade tableware for restaurants if you do not have an idea about the rules of table setting, serving and presentation of dishes, selection of stylized dishes, etc.

The arrogance of many entrepreneurs is often expressed in the fact that they choose a niche based only on their own opinion and understanding of the market. If you do not conduct, then you are completely not protected from risks. As a result, the niche is unclaimed. For example, if you didn’t bother to pre-survey customers and decided to do home delivery of groceries. And as a result, it turned out that such a service is in demand among a very small percentage of the population, mostly elderly people with low solvency, since for the most part, people tend to choose products for their table themselves and get some pleasure from it.

Another mistake is insufficiently clear visualization and advertising message, from which the client does not understand what you are doing. For example, here is one local Internet provider who decided to provide security services, would tell an ordinary resident of the city rather that it was about IT data security, rather than that the company provides services of a security agency. For a person who does not know this brand and is poorly versed in the world of Internet services, such advertising will not say anything at all.