Too many would-be entrepreneurs believe that they can find success by selling as many kinds of products as possible. This refusal to limit their inventory can actually doom, rather than increase, their chances. Even Amazon started as a committed bookstore before expanding into selling everything. They found success by filling a niche. You would be wise to do the same.
Finding a niche for your business is as simple as selecting a specific type of product to offer and/or a particular demographic to reach. The difficult part is finding a niche in which you would have great potential for success.
As with most aspects of running a business, practicalities take priority. When you think you have landed on a type of product you could sell, consider how easily you can acquire such products. Are there any manufacturers or suppliers that offer these items to stores? If you can make the products yourself, can you get the materials from anyone at affordable prices? You should have answers to these questions before going in that direction.
Having a niche means appealing to a specific audience, and your niche can be as specialized as you want. Of course, you also want an audience large enough to give you a steady flow of revenue. One way to gauge the size of your target demographic is through keyword research. Various SEO analytics programs can show you the amount of daily traffic for the most popular search terms in your chosen field. Your chances of success improve in fields whose keywords get more than a few dozen search terms each day.
Additionally, finding a niche within a niche could really slash the amount of competition you face. For example, “pet supplies” could be considered a niche compared to the likes of Amazon. However, it is a massive market, and new businesses may still find themselves crowded out. You could instead sell a particular type of pet supply, like food or toys. Better still, you could offer a massive selection of that particular type — larger than stores that also sell everything else.
A similar principle applies for targeting a particular group. Using the same example, appealing to the owners of rats, snakes, or fish may yield more success than to pet owners as a whole. That may seem paradoxical, but consider this other paradox: larger stores try to cater to everyone, but may neglect the needs of smaller audiences. If you dedicate all your space and all your resources to just one such demographic, they may reward you with their passion and loyalty.
Here is one last piece of advice: you are in charge of deciding the parameters of your niche. You can be as creative and flexible as you want when choosing what to sell. Even if you start with one kind of product and one key demographic, you could grow and branch out as you gain more resources and popularity.
Gonzalo Gil Shift4Shop
Gonzalo is the founder and CEO of Shift4Shop, a leading ecommerce platform for online businesses. As an ecommerce expert, Gonzalo works with businesses of all sizes to help them build their online presence and succeed selling online.
About Carson Derrow
