In the era of information overload, we're surrounded every day by new ideas, technology and innovation. Finding a niche that hasn't already been dominated may seem impossible for the aspiring entrepreneur. Yet every day someone creates something new to reach a market that hasn't yet been saturated. It's possible to carve out your own unique niche, but you need the right tools and expertise to do it. Below, eight Young Entrepreneur Council members shared their best suggestions for how to find a business niche that still has plenty of untapped potential. 1. Lead With Your Values And Strengths The most important thing about business is finding something that aligns with your values and strengths. One of the significant pitfalls of entrepreneurs is chasing fads. It seems elementary, but you need to self-evaluate before deciding on a niche. Once you've taken the time to evaluate your skills, search job postings and sites like LinkedIn to see if people are looking for talent in your area of expertise. Use LinkedIn polls to find out if people need the services you offer. Then tailor your message to address those needs. If you can solve problems for your customers, you will have a steady stream of business. - Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc. 2. Become An Integration Partner For An Established Solution Creating a new category costs a fortune to market and develop, and competing with a large player is a dangerous game. Instead, build on top of an established market leader. Think of Shopify, Salesforce, Microsoft SharePoint—These enterprises have invested billions in building a name and onboarding high-profile customers. Integration partners or solution developers can benefit a lot from tapping into an established marketplace, cutting marketing costs and reducing friction in complex migrations. This is a great and proven model that's easy to bootstrap with limited risk. - Mario Peshev, DevriX 3. Pinpoint A Gap During Market Research Market research is everything. You can't find your perfect niche without establishing what's already been taken by the big dogs. Once you have an idea of what you can't claim as your niche, start to think about what was noticeably missing. What could customers benefit from that you weren't able to find during your research? What could you bring to the table that they would find genuinely valuable? This is the stage of developing your brand where you need to firmly place yourself in the shoes of the customer. Think about what you would like to see introduced to the market. Finding success with a niche business idea relies on genuine interest from both customers and yourself. If you aren't excited about your idea, no one else will be either. - Nick Venditti, StitchGolf 4. Find A Subcategory Within An Existing Industry Just like Inception, you need to go deeper. Finding a business niche with untapped potential often requires you to find a subcategory within an existing industry. This limits your potential audience at first, but it's a good starting point for developing your brand or product. It also allows you to build incrementally and start focusing on other niches in the future, which will slowly expand your reach. - Bryce Welker, Real Estate Schooler 5. Leverage Search Engines And Social Media Conducting research via search engines and social media provides clear overviews of different industries, the competition and target audiences. This data will help an entrepreneur determine whether an industry is dominated. If an industry is dominated, it's still okay for an entrepreneur to launch an offer as long as it's slightly different from the rest of the offerings in the market. - Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC 6. Find A Part Of The Market Bigger Companies Aren't Serving The goal isn't to avoid competition really, but more to find a safe enough landing from which you can expand and dominate the competition. With that mindset, I'll say that competition is welcome. Pick a niche based on something you're passionate about or have some knowledge of or experience working in. It'll make your journey less of a struggle, making it easier for you not to quit. Now, once you've found that niche, don't get tempted to play the same game the bigger market shareholders are playing. They have more resources, established relationships and experience at that game. It's a losing game for you most of the time. Instead, fund that part of the market they're not really serving well. Dig deeper to find them and focus all your energy to be the best service provider for them. - Samuel Thimothy, OneIMS 7. Let Your Customers Drive Your Efforts For those of you who already have a business but have not necessarily carved out a specific segment of your market to target, the best thing you can do is let the customer engagement and interest naturally drive your efforts. Create the content your customers seek out and ask for, engage with them and you will begin to slowly carve out a niche of your own. It is incredibly difficult to instead swim upstream and attract a customer base that may not be naturally interested in what you are trying to sell or the way your brand is presented. - Salvador Ordorica, The Spanish Group LLC 8. Establish A Problem You Can Solve Before trying to zero in on a niche, you need to first establish what problem or need you’re trying to solve. Looking at your target market, identify what their biggest desire or challenge is. What do you have to offer to fulfill that? Once you determine what their needs are and how you can support them, only then can you determine what niche you should follow. Over time, as you continue to strive to meet those needs, you begin to zero in on exactly what your audience's pain points are and how best to meet them. This is where you begin to carve out a niche for yourself. It isn’t necessarily a decision you make at the very start of your journey. It’s one that comes about over time as you do your very best to meet your audience where they are at that moment. - Blair Thomas, eMerchantBroker Source: forbes.com
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If you have little kids, chances are you remember Alice and her Adventures in Wonderland. Remember the episode when Alice finds herself running faster and faster but staying in the same place? There's no doubt this wasn't Lewis Carroll's intention, but this image is a perfect metaphor for modern marketing. Even some 10 to 15 years ago, you could easily reach your growth goals through trade shows and referrals. Today, you'd be lucky to get the same ROI. It is what it is in 2022 — just the Red Queen’s race. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to dismiss or criticize traditional marketing. It is still relevant for some industries and especially effective when used as a part of an integrated marketing strategy. But in today’s competitive landscape, traditional marketing alone is simply not enough. Manufacturers are no longer off the hook for digital. Today's manufacturers need new ideas that can help them serve markets like never before. Otherwise, they'll lose out on major business opportunities in what has become a highly competitive marketplace. Industrial companies have been relying on traditional marketing for decades. It's been working very well, but now it's time to change. To keep growing, you need to establish a solid online presence for your manufacturing business — and you need a proven and measurable marketing approach to make it happen. Digital Marketing Strategies For Manufacturing It’s a very simple rule: You have to acquire customers and you also need to retain them. Acquisition and retention are like two halves of a whole. If either one is missing, the growth is not happening. Both acquisition and retention need to become a focus of your marketing and sales strategy, and it’s impossible to succeed in this journey without going into digital. Below are a few things that worked well for our clients. View marketing as an investment, not an expense. It’s hard to measure direct ROI from a video explaining some production processes, but it will definitely influence someone at some point. By providing useful information consistently, you increase company value and build brand equity. This will inevitably lead to growth in the long term. Help your audience in their buyer’s journey. According to Gartner, 77% of B2B buyers describe their latest purchase as complex or difficult. You can make it easier for them with content marketing. By creating the content that is going to resonate with your audience, you educate them and inspire them to do business with you — not necessarily right now. Don’t be afraid to get transparent. As you are getting started with content marketing, you’ll have to share some insights from behind the scenes. It might feel uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t worry about it. If your competitive advantage is that easy to steal and copy, then it’s not a competitive advantage. After all, Elon Musk has been sharing everything he does and yet no one’s been able to replicate SpaceX. No need to choose digital over traditional. As effective as digital inbound marketing can be, you probably don’t want to give up all of your traditional outbound marketing strategies. After all, you gained traction by buying print ads, going to trade shows and offering free consultations and on-site inspections. You don’t have to abandon those tactics. Think about it. If someone sees an ad in an industry magazine but is not yet in the market to buy, what are the odds of them saving the ad and responding to it a few months later? Almost zero. The last thing you want is to find yourself trying all kinds of different things — online and offline — without having them work together within an integrated system. The same Gartner study from above says that B2B buyers spend only 17% of their time meeting with potential suppliers when considering a purchase. This means that your prospects are researching and evaluating you before they ever contact you. There’s a long and complex buying process they go through, so one mention in the print media or one digital ad may help, but are definitely not enough. The World Has Changed Digital marketing is a big opportunity for manufacturers to increase ROI, gain a competitive edge and adapt to changing consumer behavior. Combining it with traditional tools will result in predictable and scalable growth. And remember, many of your competitors haven’t bought into this strategy yet. By taking action now, you will get the upper hand. Source: forbes.com Image: Getty
As an entrepreneur, you may come to realize that certain aspects of your personal and social life have to be put on the back burner to get your business off the ground. Neglecting your personal life can come at a cost, though. New entrepreneurs may experience burnout and have a greater chance of giving up on their businesses entirely if they can’t find better work-life balance. If you're heading toward burnout because of your business, follow these recommendations from eight members of Young Entrepreneur Council. Below, they give their best tips for retaining time for loved ones and rest while still building a successful business. 1. Figure Out What's Most Important To You I believe everyone needs to find balance in life to be happy, productive and fulfilled. Balance is not about having equal time for everything, but understanding what you find most important in life and then finding time for each one of these areas in a weekly or monthly cycle. You might not always be able to find the perfect amount of time to spend on each area, but finding some time will make you feel more in control and definitely a lot happier. - Zane Stevens, Protea Financial 2. Invest In Cloud-Based Tools The smartest thing that you, as an entrepreneur, can do is to invest in cloud-based tools that let you work from anywhere with an internet connection. You can also use voice-based tools, tablets and other remote technology to work while you're at home or on the go. Doing so can help you work during downtime. But you're also able to drop your work to meet friends and do activities with your family. Just remember to be present and to focus on the people you're with and not on your work. Having remote tools is not an excuse to detach from conversations to check your phone or send emails or do other work. - Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner 3. Separate Your Work And Home Tech You can easily manage your work-home life by having separate tech for your job. I used the same computer for browsing and work for years. When I wanted to casually browse YouTube, I would find myself looking at work emails, reviewing spreadsheets and doing a bunch of other stuff that could have totally waited until the next day. After purchasing a computer specifically for work tasks, I found that I had so much more free time. Even better, I didn't feel pressured to work during my time off. - John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC 4. Set Boundaries Boundaries instill confidence and help you learn how to prioritize better in your business and personal life. When I started my business from my clinical office, I set boundaries during my downtime and lunchtime. I worked on my business while working full time by fitting in regular and random times to focus on my messaging and conduct market research. In retrospect, I wish I set better boundaries for working hours. I often worked late into the evening, and this impacted my personal life. I wish that I stopped working at a specific hour, which would have helped my brain unplug. I did schedule weekend times to rock climb with friends and I made sure to run at least five to six times a week. Incorporating boundaries around exercise and movement helped my energy levels. - Libby Rothschild, Dietitian Boss 5. Schedule In Your Personal Time Most entrepreneurs have a tight schedule and they definitely miss out on things in their personal lives. If you don't want that to happen, try to schedule some personal time in your calendar no matter how hectic your schedule is. It can be as short as 15 minutes or as long as you think is possible. It's the best way to find some free time in which you spend time doing things you really enjoy. - Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster 6. Establish Set Working Hours I think every business owner has put in more hours than they intended and sacrificed time with friends and family. I've found myself in this situation more times than I would like to admit. In my experience, the best way to balance your time is to establish precise work hours, even if you're working from home. If you allow yourself to work at 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., you're asking for random intrusions in your free time. However, establishing clear guidelines like, "I will not start work before 8 a.m. and I won't work after 6 p.m.," can help you get a handle on your schedule and secure more time in your personal life. - Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights 7. Avoid Getting Caught Up In Busy Work A lot of new entrepreneurs mistake being busy with being productive. In most cases, people occupy themselves with busy work, procrastinate and otherwise waste time. In reality, if you focus during work hours and use time-blocking and other productivity tools, you'll get important work done within reasonable working hours—and you will have time for family. Better yet, schedule time for your family as part of your weekly tasks. If you have clear goals and tasks and focus when you're on the job, balancing your personal life and growing your business will be possible. - Blair Williams, MemberPress 8. Recognize Your Limitations Don't try to do it all alone. While you may be the best at what you do, you can't do it all. A part of being a successful entrepreneur is delegating. You need to be able to identify what only you can do to grow the business and what you can outsource. For example, when things began to go well for my business, I started to hire more people so I could work on growing the business while not being in the business. This meant I could build the business without getting bogged down in the day-to-day tasks. This not only allowed me to continue to cultivate an overall vision for my company, but it also opened up more time for me to enjoy my family. Learning to delegate can be hard for an entrepreneur who naturally likes to have control, but it is essential for maintaining balance and perspective. - Shu Saito, SpiroPure Source: forbes.com
When you’re launching a startup or trying to grow an existing business, it’s tempting to put all of your energy into it. The so-called “hustle culture” in the United States encourages this type of thinking. A 2017 survey by the Alternative Board found that 84% of small business owners say they work more than 40 hours per week. This, unfortunately, is a long-standing trend. According to a Gallup survey from 2005, small business owners averaged about 52 hours of work per week. However, maintaining balance in your life is a critical element in running a successful business. Taking time away to relax and recharge will pay dividends in the long term and allow you to think more clearly. I’ve learned from personal experience just how detrimental a lack of balance can be to your health. A lack of balance can land you in the ER. I started my business more than 20 years ago after ending my racing career. While the company was still new, my schedule became even more chaotic when my wife and I welcomed our first son. We were thrilled, but any parent knows just how much time and energy it takes to care for a newborn. Between the demands at home and at work, I stopped exercising. Working out had always been part of my routine but I told myself there just wasn’t any time available anymore to fit it in. It didn’t take long before I started experiencing crippling headaches, and I ultimately ended up in the emergency room (ER). The doctor ran me through a series of grueling tests, including a spinal tap, before concluding that my health problems were caused by stress. He didn’t prescribe me medication. Instead, he strongly encouraged me to go back to the gym. I went that very day. About halfway through the workout, I realized the chronic headache that had been plaguing me for months was suddenly gone. I advocate for regular exercise to manage stress. Ever since that trip to the ER, I’ve made it a priority to exercise at least four times each week. My mental state deteriorates if I skip the gym for even a few days. I feel the anxiety and stress creep back in. I strongly believe that overcoming adversity makes you stronger. Physical activity gives you an opportunity to tackle metaphorical adversities — whether the goal is to run faster, jump higher or lift a heavier weight. I believe it’s important to challenge yourself both physically and mentally every day. For me, that includes a cold shower every morning. I also regularly endure ice baths. I believe these kinds of activities demonstrate how amazing your body is and can show you that you’re capable of anything. No matter how hectic your schedule is, everyone can spare 10 minutes. Take those 10 minutes and do something that’ll benefit you physically and/or mentally. Get down on the floor and do a plank. Take a walk around the block. Close your eyes, take deep breaths and meditate. Find whatever works best for you to manage stress and stick to it. Prioritize rest, both for yourself and your employees. If anything good has come out of this pandemic, it’s that more people have realized they don’t have to work themselves into the ground. The “I can sleep when I’m dead” mentality is nonsense. Getting enough sleep will make you a better boss, based on research cited by the Harvard Business Review. It’s been proven that a quality night’s sleep improves focus, helps with problem-solving and sharpens communication skills. You’re less likely to respond emotionally if you’re well-rested. Yes, you may get a lot done by working 50-plus-hour weeks, but you’ll eventually burn out and risk making major mistakes. If your company culture is like that, too, then you could face mass resignations and your bottom line could suffer. Making the necessary changes to achieve balance can prevent those problems from happening. Source: forbes.com
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