Have you ever heard people talking about this concept of niching or specialising in a particular sector or industry?
I remember when I was freelancing, I had this all the time and it was something that didn’t really appeal to me. In fact, when I imagined doing it, I just thought that I would be doing the same work, day in, day out, and it would get really monotonous and boring.
Later in my freelancing career, I was lucky enough to be introduced to a very successful entrepreneur called Daniel Priestley. He showed me that by niching, I was actually going to create more variety and more creative freedom in my work, than if I didn’t niche. At first, that concept seemed strange to me, but when I actually went through the process and learned that my experiences, my insights and my story – all of the things that happened up until this point – were really, really valuable for somebody else, then I started to see that I was actually in a unique position to solve a problem for somebody.
When I work with my clients, I help them to see that they’re all in a unique position to solve a problem for somebody. So niching isn’t just about putting your finger in the air and saying, “I want to work with food and drink brands”. Your niche is already there, it’s just locked up inside your story. It’s locked up inside all of the experiences, all the things that maybe you don’t even think are that relevant to your business.
If you go back and think about your journey or your life, and what’s got you here so far, you’ll realise that you’ve had some experiences in your life that have been good and bad that you’ve learned a lot from. What you’ve learned from those experiences, as well as your insights, your network, and the way that you do things, are all really valuable to somebody else.
That is how you differentiate yourself and find your gap in the market.
So, when you think about niching or specialising, what stops you? What’s the thing that scares you the most about it?
I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments below.
