Listen, Sis! Your business needs a niche to stand out!

I’m saying this to you firmly, a glass of wine in hand as I recite the word niche, and all it’s possible pronunciations around in my mind (“neeesh”… “nitchhh“… ). No matter how annoying the word is, or whether or not you say it correctly, if you’re starting your business without a niche, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

And if I’m really being honest, as a new business owner, in a world filled with tons of “new business owners” I am urging you to start with ONE NICHE!

I can literally hear you roll your eyes, as you huff and retort… “ugh, but, Jae, I’m super multi-passionate, I can’t be forced to just one niche!”

I get it! When my sister and I first started our business, we tried to be extremely “open” without committing to one niche. We felt like it limited our ability to be creative, share our love for fashion, fitness, hair care and reach all the people! All that did was set us back 3 years and force us to really start over.

The problem was, we were so excited about starting our own business, being in charge, and running shit on our own terms, that we didn’t take the time to pay attention to what was important from the start. We kept ignoring our mentors when they’d say

“Ladies, your business needs a niche”

And now, that we finally GET IT, after 3 long, inefficient years of pining away at a business that wasn’t going anywhere, we want to stop you from making the same mistake! Which is why this post is all about sharing 5 reasons your business needs a niche! So, get your pen and paper out, and take notes on this.

But, first,  let me break down exactly what a niche is.

What is a niche? 

A niche is defined as a small segment of a larger market.

For example Fashion, Pets, Online Business, Health and fitness, etc.

These are all pretty large markets when you think about it, right? So, in order to really set your business up correctly, we have our students drill down and choose a sub-niche.

What is a sub-niche?

So, a sub-niche is an even smaller, more specified area of a niche market that caters to a specific audience.

For example: Taking a broad niche like fashion and focusing on fashion for curvy women. Or, taking a large market like pets, and focusing solely on Boston Terriers.

This is a lot less broad, and caters to a very specific area that we now refer to as your profitable niche topic aka “money maker.” Finding your profitable niche topic is the key to positioning yourself for success with your online business, Luv. Still feeling a little resistant? Let’s dig deeper to find out the reasons why your business needs a niche to succeed.

Why your business needs a niche to succeed?

There are a ton of reasons your business needs a niche to help you succeed, but because I know you’re busy, and feeling a bit resistant about settling on one specific niche, let’s discuss 5 of the most important benefits of choosing a profitable niche topic.

1. Choosing a Niche Limits the competition

The truth is, EVERYONE and their Mom’s dog has an online business right now. So many female entrepreneurs are aspiring fashion bloggers, lifestyle bloggers, online business owners, etc. Needless to say, many of these niche markets are becoming more and more “saturated” making it hard AF to stand out.  Choosing a smaller more specific niche helps you cut down the competition so you’re no longer competing with the masses.

So, let’s say you stick to your multi-passionate desires and start your business with a mix of broad niches such as fashion and food. This will put you in the position to compete with thousands of other generic fashion and food blogs and online businesses. Ugh! I hate to break it to you Sis, but no matter how awesome your business is, or your blog looks, it’s going to take a ton of work to be seen let alone to stand out.

But, let’s say you buckle down and focus on a specific profitable niche topic, like athletic wear for curvy women, or Hiit fitness for new moms. By honing in and getting specific you’re giving yourself an advantage because now, your only competition is other businesses under these smaller niche umbrellas. Limiting your competition as a new business owner makes things so much simpler! And around here, we’re all about finding a smarter, easier, simpler way to do business. You should too.

2. A Niche Helps You Stand Out As an Authority Figure

Listen, Linda, you did not start your own business to be seen as just another “generic” online business. Do you want your business to stand out? Do you want to be known as “that bitch” within your niche market? If yes, then girl, your business needs a niche!

Think about it, when someone mentions “sneakers” I’m sure brands such as Nike, Adidas, or even Vans, come to mind. Why? because they’ve established themselves as the authority for sneakers. You don’t think of any of these brands when someone mentions handbags, or keto meals because they have dominated one niche market.

By realizing your business needs a niche, and focusing on one specific, profitable niche topic, you’re putting yourself in the position to stand out against the masses. So, now, if you choose to start a business based on athletic fashion for curvy women, you will be noticed by women seeking “athletic fashion for women with curves” or “athletic fashion for curvy women.” As a new business owner, this gives you such an edge!

3. Your Business Needs a Niche to Grow Faster

Your business will be able to accelerate growth once you’ve established yourself as the go-to authority figure within your niche. No more vying for attention wondering if you are making a difference without being seen. The idea is to push all of the right business buttons like marketing, sharing on social media, putting out amazing content that your audience actually wants and needs so that you can watch your business grow with ease.

When we first started our online business we ignored the instruction to find a specific profitable niche topic and we suffered. Our business went stale and sat stagnant without any growth at all over the span of 3 years. With our Etsy store business, we began to focus on feminine apparel right around the time of the “Me Too” movement, and quickly changed our business status from ignored to seen in literally 30 days. The difference? We found one profitable niche topic and focused on that alone and the result was maximum growth and massive sales. That is the power of focusing on one niche market as a new business.

 4. Your Audience Wants You to Have a Niche

What many people don’t seem to understand is, by focusing on a profitable niche topic for your business, you’re also finding your target audience. Part of what makes a niche topic profitable is that it comes with an audience that holds an interest in the topic. For example, let’s stick to the niche topic of athletic fashion for curvy women. Naturally, this will cater to the interests of curvy women with an interest in athletic fashion. When you choose a specific topic,  you have a better chance to dig deeper and find out what your audience needs, what problems and pain points they have, and cater to them by solving it.

Let’s continue with the athletic apparel for curvy women example.

Not many women are petite size 4. The majority of us curvaceous goddesses are blessed with beautiful curves with sizes starting at 8 and up. However, the problem is, larger sizes aren’t always available in stores. This creates scarcity in a lot of areas of fashion. So, naturally, when a woman is not able to find her size, she will jump on Google or Pinterest and search things like… “athletic wear for girls with curves.”

While she’s searching online, she’s going to scroll past all of the generic athletic apparel blogs and websites because they don’t have what she wants.

And what does she want?

She wants a pair of leggings that hug every single inch of her voluptuous curves. As she scrolls, she becomes more desperate to find what she wants. She’s like, “omg, I need a pair of yoga pants that won’t rip in the thighs while doing downward dog.” And, she longs for a fuckin sports bra made specifically for women who lead the big boob club.  So when she sees your website or blog show up, with marketing that shows a curvy woman that looks like her, and content that promises to cater to athletic wear for curvy women… she’s excitedly clicking on your link, she’s scrolling through your site and she’s sharing your site with all of her curvy friends.

Why?

Because by focusing on a specified niche, you’ve provided a cure to her pain. You’ve created a place for her to go when she’s ready to shop for more curvy athletic apparel. You’ve taken the guesswork out for her so she no longer needs to waste time searching online. And, ultimately, you have given her a home to return to and she feels like she can trust you because you helped her solve a major problem.  Which brings me to the next factor.

5. Your Business Needs a Niche to Make More Money

People spend their money on things they want, not always just what they need. They also have the tendency to only pull out their credit card when they know, like and trust a business. Think of your own buying behavior. As humans, we tend to feel safer and more trusting when we feel there is something in it for us. So, your business needs a niche because catering to your audience is how you bring in the money, honey.  If you focus on providing value and offering solutions that will help ease pain, you will open doors of opportunity to increase your sales.

By being able to focus on a smaller audience, you can research, ask questions, and get more involved by allowing your people to tell you their issues. When you know where the issues are, you can show up with problem-solving products or services that they’re willing to pay for. Having a niche topic gives you an advantage to not having a specific niche because you actually have a recognizable audience instead of guessing, and failing to get it right.  It’s like the quote says “If you’re talking to everybody, you’re essentially talking to nobody.”

Conclusion: Your Business Needs a Niche

So, with these 5 important benefits, I hope you better understand why having a profitable niche topic is so important. I get that you’re multi-passionate. I think you need to be creative and flexible in business and ready to pivot as you grow. But instead of starting off as a generic brand, take a smarter, less saturated road and come to grips with the fact that your business needs a niche just like curvy women need a specialized site for athletic apparel. Because at the end of the day, you’re starting your online business to serve an audience. So, don’t choose a niche just because you feel like you have to, instead choose a niche because your audience needs you to!

Now over to you, Luv. What are your thoughts? Do you have issues selecting one specific niche? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.