To Niche or Not to Niche…

What is a niche?

Niche and target market are used interchangeably but to me they are very different things, especially for service-based entrepreneurs.

This matters because there is a wave of entrepreneurs entering business who are multi-passionate and tying themselves up in knots about their “niche” because the industry says that you can’t be multi-passionate and be successful in business.

If I agreed with that statement, of course, there would be no need to say anything more.

But I’m still talking …

For me a niche begins within you.

During the course of your life you have seen, witnessed and participated in many different situations and experiences. Every single one of them has given you something that has shaped how you see the world, participate in life and solve problems. You have discovered things that you love and things that you don’t. You have been lit up like a Christmas tree by all sorts of things that have taken you on winding journeys of self-discovery and you have learnt skills that you apply uniquely. You have developed multiple passions.

It is this journey that has given you the ability to respond to others in a way that no one else can. To discard one part of this journey is to deny the fullness of transformation that you can offer to others. It is the richness of your journey that defines your focus and purpose — in other words, your niche.
Every part of your journey of self-actualisation in connected by the thread of your individual soul expression. Every passion is connected in some way and amplifies the other. You are unique if you let yourself be fully you.

This is where the magic of multi-passionate “niching” lies — connecting the dots and creating what no one else can.

Focus within business is imperative. But focus does not need to exclude the very things that make you, you. Rather by focussing on them, you will discover the seed of uniqueness that defines the purpose and direction of your business. It sets the stage for you to take this out to a target market, which is by definition specific because it is looking for the gifts that only you can bring.

The relentless focus on externalising the specifics of business, for example through demographics, is where any entrepreneur can begin to lose their way. It takes your focus away from what you bring to the table.

Without you, there is nothing special about your business. With you, all of you, there is something extraordinary about your business. It has direction, purpose and coherent focus.

You can square the circle and be multi-passionate, highly niched and unique.

Originally published at www.pollyhearsey.co.uk.