Do an internet search and type in how to make money from home or how to start a business. You probably see a ton of results. Once you get past all of the “do surveys” or “get paid to just do this” (take it from someone who has tried, getting paid for surveys is a waste of time). You find one piece of advice common to all of the search returns. And they all say this, “If you want a successful business then you need to be finding your niche.”
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There are also a number of books telling you to own your niche, find your niche, or even build a power niche.
Let’s challenge this typically accepted advice. Do you really need a niche to start a successful business? The very short answer is, “No, you don’t need a niche to start a business.” Keep reading because I am going to let you in on my secrets of starting a business without finding your niche.
Or if you’ve been telling yourself this already, but you aren’t sure where to start. Download the free Mom Boss 2.0 workbook and get started building a business without a niche.
Also read the Part Time Work from Home Series: Prepare before You Leap, Start a Virtual Assistant Business, and What You Need to Start.
This is the first post on finding your niche. Stay tuned for part 2 How to Make Money from Home without a Niche.
Starting a Money Making Business without Finding Your Niche
When I started exploring this idea of starting my own business (read more about that transition), I had so many questions. Like you, I went to the one source that could answer all of them…the internet. The search results all came back with these results: you need to specialize and find a niche. I sat there staring at my screen, frustrated and thinking, but I’m a generalist. I’ve spent my career needing to spread my knowledge wide and not just deep. Does this mean I will never be able to start my own business?
Are you finding yourself in a similar place? You want to start a business but your knowledge is wide. Are you asking yourself, “How do I narrow down my wide experience? Do I really need to find something to be special about? Are there any businesses who need help from a generalist?” The answer to all these questions is, “Yes!”
What Exactly is a Niche?
This is such a popular buzzword that it is important that we define it first. According to dictionary.com a niche is: a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing; pertaining to or intended for a market niche; having specific appeal. Specifically, in business, a niche is something that you feel best suited for, according to indeed.com.
These definitions are usually applied to starting a business. This is typically the advice you hear, at least this was the advice I heard when I was starting out. You need to specialize, you need to find a specific focus so you know what clients to take and which ones to turn away (do you really want to turn away clients when you are just starting out?!).
And still more advice, finding your niche will help with marketing because you can focus on just your target market. You save money this way. This all sounds so good, right?
Like Apple, right. They stayed in their niche as a music company…oh wait, I mean technology company that totally disrupted and changed the music business. Or Amazon, they kept to their niche as just a bookstore…except for being one of the largest retailers of everything. And a bookstore, who totally disrupted the publishing industry and forced it to change. Aren’t you glad these businesses didn’t focus on just their niche?
I hope you are sensing my sarcasm in the paragraph above. Clearly, you don’t need a niche to be successful. It is time to turn this idea on its head.
The Elusive Search to Finding Your Niche
I recently read this quote, and I thought it was so appropriate for this post.
The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas. Linus Pauling
The idea of finding your niche causes you to hyper-focus to find just one idea. But how do you know it is a good idea or the right idea. You may start with one idea and find that you are shifting towards another one. When you are so focused on one thing it can be hard to see the big picture. If you are so consumed with finding just the one right idea, then you have the potential to miss a very good idea.
Let your many ideas and passions work together. I just listened to this in Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, “Don’t throw any of yourself away.” Your ideas should talk and interactive with each other, and see what happens.
I’m not saying that finding a niche is a bad idea or a wrong one.
But when we hyper-focus on one idea to the exclusion of all others, then we have a problem.
So many business books and blogs tell you that the first thing you need to do is to focus on one thing, but what if you are a generalist? It is an extremely frustrating process for a generalist to live in a specialist world. And trying to force your skills and knowledge into a very specific cubby hole will feel awkward and frustrating. Think square peg, round hole.
Reasons for Finding Your Niche
Now finding a niche isn’t a bad idea. It just may not be the right idea for you. Forbes gives this as the number 2 reason businesses fail because they didn’t define their niche. The idea being that you can’t be everything to everybody. This is true. Even as a generalist, you can’t be all things to all people. But as a generalist you have a broader reach, and you can make money without finding your niche.
Conclusion
Let’s move from hyper-focusing on one idea and start exploring outside of the box. Finding your niche can lead to a successful business, but you can also start a successful business without finding your niche. Both can work.
Are you ready to break free from the 9–5, be your own boss, raise your kids, and enjoy your life? Then download the Mom Boss 2.0 workbook and start a business without a niche.
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