Finding Your Niche

No matter how you choose to go into business or what you intend for your business to sell, you have to go about it in a way no other person before you has.

Whether you are opening a restaurant because you have a killer recipe or you plan to deliver a service you are good at, there has to be a reason your market will come to you instead of your competitor.

This is a major pitfall for most consulting businesses, as they tend to think that their experience will be enough. Even franchisors must think of this too, when deciding where their business will operate.

I have been struggling with this idea lately, as I am working to open my consulting business, my partner and I had a good conversation about this yesterday. I had come up with a really good idea that would give us an edge, and was majorly discouraged that someone had a patent on the idea already.

The important thing that I learned was to not let this get me down. We talked about contacting the company to get a license to use their product. No one in our market has used a technique of this kind and the Canadian company with the patent on the design might be open to the idea of reaching another market for their product.

This idea will become the cornerstone for your marketing plan. Your edge will be the idea that you will promote to get your potential customers to choose your business over another. It will be the piece of your company that attracts investors. It is the most important part of your company's development, and should never be overlooked.

-Rebecca