4 Questions to ask yourself when narrowing down your niche...

4 Questions to ask yourself when narrowing down your niche...

In university, we were always taught the importance of niching your product or service down for your business. Yet, I've never really taken the time to put pen to paper. To be honest, I always found myself struggling to narrow down a niche as I feared that meant letting go of my other skills.

As I move forward with my business, i’ve found myself thinking about this more and more, so I thought I would share what i’ve learned with you...

IMPORTANT NOTE: You don’t need to have a degree or education background to start your own business. Start with the experience you have now, and expand from there. 

I say this with confidence because although I went to university...The most valuable experience I use today in my business was learned on the job or in books that i’ve read. 

1. What are my skills & passions?
   Here you will start by creating a Master List.
   A Master List is used to help you determine the connection between your skills and passions. 
   
   Starting with your skills, list all your education, experience, or even what you find that your friends/family tend to seek your advice on. Once those are in place, list all your current passions connecting the similarities between the two.
   
   For example: When I made my list I found a lot of my topics were built around entrepreneurship, design, and creating passive income.
   

2. What content can I create?
   Here you will brainstorm ideas drafting a list of topics that you could share through your brand. Comparing it to your Master List for any similar areas of interest. You will be able to determine if there would be enough material you could create to cover with your audience.
   
   For example: Ask yourself, what topics could you post about on instagram? What Videos could you make for Youtube or Reels?
   
   If you are unable to come up with a list of topics you could use for content, I would recommend going back to your Masters List.
   

3. What is the demand?
   
   Once you've answered the first two questions, it’s time to research if there truly is enough demand.
   
   Here I recommend to always start by asking a group of family and friends which you feel would need your product or service. Using the information you gathered, you can further your research online through analyzing your competition or using tools like Google keywords, Pinterest, Youtube, and online surveys.
   
   The goal here is to see what topics based on your theme people are specifically looking for and how often it’s searched for.
   

4. What problem can I solve?
   
   Finally, the most important thing when discovering your niche, is determining exactly who your audience is and the problem you can solve for them.
   
   Think about it, we all want solutions to our problems, with efficient step-by-step ways to get there in some way or form. Starting a business that you're passionate about is HUGE, however if your passion doesn't help solve a problem for your audience, it is difficult to market and last. Therefore, explaining why researching the demand and competition is essential when narrowing down your niche.
   
   For example: We will choose the popular topic of online marketing & growth.
   
   The Hypothetical problem: An individual is struggling with their ability to engage and grow their online audience, resulting in minimal to no sales for their new business.
   
   The Hypothetical Solution: You are a marketing expert that develops a unique 5 step strategy to help small business owners grow their online following and email lists within 30 days.
   
   So ask yourself, do you offer an alternative solution to the norm? What is the gap you feel that you could fill? What makes you different?
   
   Once you have recognized your overall market, established your demand and discovered the problem you can solve...You got your niche!
   
   You can then move onto the next steps and develop your strategy using customer avatars. Avatars are detailed profiles you create of your ideal customer. Focusing on what their lifestyle, wants, needs, and pain points are...narrowing down your niche and target audience.
   
   Niching down is the first step of many, if you found this information helpful or have any questions/comments if I missed anything. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.