In this article I want to point out that just because the business case is positive, a niche or idea doesn’t necessarily have to be good. Most articles that deal with the topic of finding a niche, in my opinion, far too rarely address the fact that the niche has to suit you. In almost every niche there are enough people who succeed and many more who fail. This only proves that it is not the niche itself, but the people and their skills that determine whether they are successful or not.
What characterises your niche?
I don’t know any entrepreneur who sat down before starting up and thought. “Hmm, should I start a food, medical, craft or digital business?”
Instead, all entrepreneurs started as employees because they needed money for studies and everyday life. Over time, opportunities arose or the current entrepreneurs discovered opportunities to offer services or products in the industry they had already worked in.
In other words, the entrepreneurs already had an idea of their business before they became entrepreneurs.
Similarly, people who built something as a side hustle. Often they had a hobby where they had a lot of fun, of course, but they also had a clue. If you are interested in something, sooner or later you come across problems that many others in the industry also have. In that case, you just have to find the solution and share it with others.
What happens if you choose the wrong niche?
I have already made several attempts to develop a product or service. Each time I was convinced that the idea would make me rich. I still think that the ideas themselves were not bad, I know enough examples who were successful with the same idea. It was only ME who was not successful with the ideas.
The reason for my failure, in my opinion, is my ignorance or arrogance towards people in the industry I wanted to work in. If I had known beforehand what the people in the industry were like or what their real problems were, I could have saved myself a lot of time.
Motivation
Another big reason for my failure was certainly motivation. At the beginning of a project, you are always motivated, but after a few weeks, your motivation wanes. If money was the only motivation for the project, you start to doubt it. Then you calculate again and again and ask yourself in retrospect: Is the whole effort worth it? After all, there are other offers that are similar, how long will it take me to get to their level?
Over time, everyday life catches up with you and you invest less and less time in the project without having a finished prototype, not to mention positive feedback.
Lessons
To find a niche for yourself, you can think about what you or your colleagues in your work environment or the community in your hobby complain about. Because this source ensures that you have a clue about the industry anyway.
In my last case, the decision was even easier. Because I got into the habit of writing down business ideas years ago. So all I had to do was think about which of these ideas arose from a specific problem at work or in my personal life, and which were just general ideas.
The problems that you or your people really had and complained about are the problems that have the potential to become the basis for a business idea.
What about you?
Did your ex-bosses or entrepreneurs you know start the business because they consciously chose the industry, or did they end up in the industry by chance, gained experience there and then started a business?