You have a special set of skills, so your business should offer a clearly defined set of services. As a tradesperson, carving out your niche is a simple way to make business life easier.
As a tradie, you want to spend most of your time on the tools rather than chasing jobs, right?
While you have to handle the business side of being a self-employed tradesperson no matter what, there are ways to cut back on the amount of time and energy you put into this.
Developing a specific market niche for your business is one helpful strategy.
What is a market niche
A market niche is a small, well-defined yet profitable segment of a market to focus attention on.
Niches are created when entrepreneurs identify needs or wants in a market that aren’t yet being catered to by competitors.
A niche can be found in many ways, such as in the types of people you target, the location you work in, and the services you provide.
If you find a gap in the market and offer services to satisfy this gap, you’ll be marketing to a specific niche.
The benefits of finding a niche
With plenty of competition from other trades businesses to contend with, locating a niche will help you land more business.
You might think this sounds counter-intuitive because you’re going after a segment of a market rather than advertising to anyone and everyone in the region, but the reality is different.
READ: Tradies! Here’s how to maintain your cash flow
By focusing on a niche, you’ll become an expert in that area.
You’ll thoroughly understand the types of customers you’re targeting, and what their needs and desires are.
Also, you’ll get better and quicker at the services you offer. This leads to increased productivity and a higher probability that happy customers will recommend you to others.
In turn, you’ll save on advertising costs, since much of your work will come directly to you.
Plus, when you do advertise to a niche, your marketing dollars will be used more effectively.
Think about it like this: when you go online to find a service provider or product, you always search for something specific, don’t you, rather than using a broad term?
By doing a narrow search, the results that come up are more tailored to your requirements.
As a tradie, you’ll find that niche marketing leads people to you who are looking for exactly what you offer.
You won’t need to waste time answering enquiries from people who’re actually in need of a service you can’t help them with.
Your website should rank more highly on search engines, too, because you’re not competing with so many other tradespeople on the search terms.
Tips to help you find your niche
Obviously, niche marketing is only useful if you find the right niche for your needs. There are a few elements to this.
For example, start by considering which job types you’re best at, and what you enjoy the most.
READ: Content marketing for tradies
Consider the last 20 projects you completed. Is there a common theme amongst them, whether in the types of customers you were working for, or the specific type of tasks involved?
Thinking about these factors will help you to locate a potentially viable niche.
Another step is to research. Learn what competitors in your local market are currently doing.
What do they and don’t they offer, and at what prices? Try to find a gap you can service.
Another tip is to look at the types of enquiries you get from potential clients.
If you see patterns, wherein people seem to have the same kinds of problems again and again, this alerts you to a need you could fill.
Before launching headfirst into marketing yourself as an expert in your preferred niche, though, always try to judge whether the area will be profitable enough.
While you may be interested in providing a specific service, if there aren’t enough people willing to pay for it, you’ll flounder.
Similarly, if there’s plenty of interest, but the price point you need to charge to make a profit is too high for customers, this is something you need to know up front.
Many tradies worry that coming up with a niche is too hard and not something they have enough experience in.
However, it really is more straightforward than you probably originally thought, and well worth the time and effort.
Reproduced with the permission of MYOB. This article by Kellie Byrnes was originally published at www.myob.com/au/blog/
Important:
This provides general information and hasn’t taken your circumstances into account. It’s important to consider your particular circumstances before deciding what’s right for you. Although the information is from sources considered reliable, we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete. You should not rely upon it and should seek qualified advice before making any investment decision. Except where liability under any statute cannot be excluded, we do not accept any liability (whether under contract, tort or otherwise) for any resulting loss or damage of the reader or any other person.
Any information provided by the author detailed above is separate and external to our business and our Licensee. Neither our business nor our Licensee takes any responsibility for any action or any service provided by the author.
Any links have been provided with permission for information purposes only and will take you to external websites, which are not connected to our company in any way. Note: Our company does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents/information contained within the linked site(s) accessible from this page.
