Small Business By Design

I was recently talking with some other creatives about establishing a niche market for themselves. The topic was met with mixed feelings. Following the meeting, I began thinking more about the concept of working within a niche and had a few thoughts to share. I have been listening to the Marketing Mentor Podcast for some time now, and its creators tirelessly promote the need to specialize your services towards a specific market. One of the things that I have learned from this podcast is that a niche market can be defined in many ways. When people hear the term niche-market they generally think of industry specialization. However, having a niche doesn’t have to be defined this way. You can look at your specialization from many angles: by industry, by service type, by voice, by demographic, etc.

Take my business for example: at Strong Design Studios, we specialize in working with small businesses who desire a polished image. Everything we do is focused around this mission: our service, timelines, pricing, and the value that we build into our service. Thats the benefit of having a niche—you can tailor your services so that you can become a resource your market depends on. It tooks some time for Strong Design Studios to get to this point, but over the past years we’ve finally learned that we just love to work with little businesses and help them use their resources to create a strong face for their business. However, a small design firm like Strong Design could have taken several other approaches: they could be the design firm known for working in a specific business sector, the firm who only works with high-end clientele, the firm known for their logo designs, or the firm known for working in a grungy style—they could even be positioned as the ‘cheap firm’ or the ‘fast firm’ or even the ’slow and tedious’ firm. Likewise, you can (and should) determine your niche market, but don’t feel like you must fall into the obvious categories.

To help you starting thinking ‘out of the box’ you might wish to pick up a copy of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing or even Made to Stick—two books that touch on how to define your business in different ways.

As Al Ries and Jack Trout explain in their book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, people only remember businesses that are first—or maybe second—in a category. Those businesses become known as the category. This is the benefit of creating a niche. When someone starts speaking of your niche, you want them to immediately thing of you. Of course, you probably have much more than one other competitor, which is why it is important to determine which nuances of your business keep your customers coming back and set you apart from your competitors. As Ries and Trout continue to say in their book: “if you can’t be first in a category, set up a new category you can be first in.” It doesn’t matter how small of a business you are. Think about the little things that make you different. You may be one of 50 lumber supply companies in the metro area, but you may be the only one that offers same-day, free delivery. And thats a difference that probably keeps your customers coming back time and time again.

My point is that I vote for specialization. Narrowing down a niche for your business is a really positive thing. If you are just beginning your business, developing your niche is a process that can take some time—determining not only your passion but what you excel at and can profit from doesn’t usually happen overnight. While uncovering your niche helps you reveal who you are as a business, this process will also help you be able to better market and explain your niche to potential clientele. And clients are drawn to a clear-headed, focused service provider.

If you haven’t seen Breakfast at Tiffany’s, let me give you a quick recap. A young woman named Holly is living it up in New York City when she encounters a new neighbor in her building. The man’s name is Paul Varjack, yet Holly insists on calling him ‘Fred,’ as he bears a striking resemblance to her brother by that name, and she continually introduces him to all her friends as ‘Fred.’ Holly and Paul share many adventures, and as you might have guessed, Paul falls for Holly. Now, the basis of this post has less to do with the overall plot of the movie, but rather more to do with one simple conversation Paul has with Holly’s former agent, O.J. Berman.

Out of desperation, Paul calls O.J. for help when Holly lands in jail. The beginning of the call goes something like this:

Paul: “Hello, O.J., this is Paul Varjack. V-A-R-J-A-C-K.”

OJ: “Who?”

Paul: “It’s Paul Varjack. V-A-R-J-A-C-K.”

OJ: “Who?”

Paul: “Paul Varjack. V-A-R…. it’s Fred!”

OJ: “Oh hey there, Fred, how are you doing!”

Watching this clip made me think of how so many companies think of their “brand.” Lately it seems we have been seeing many organizations who have decided they need to ‘brand’ or ‘rebrand’ themselves. To do this, many go through a process of deciding how they want people to see them, and then try to shove that impression down their customers’ throats. However, their loyal following may actually know and value them for an entirely different reason. Basically these companies  keep trying to associate themselves with the name ‘Paul,’ when their clientele has only ever known them as is ‘Fred.’

Branding is important but, as Marty Neumeier says in his book, The Brand Gap: “A brand is not what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.” Listen to your customers and stay true to what they value you for. Present yourself with the name—or brand—they already know you by.