Think of your business as a road trip (and not the scenic kind – you’re on a mission!). You identify where you want to go, where you are starting from, who you’re going with, who you’re going to see (or pick up along the way), the fastest route, alternate routes, what you need for your trip, and you start navigating your way to where you want to go, in the most efficient way possible. In this 8-week series, I help you get clarity with the different steps of creating and navigating your road map to business success. This is the fourth installment- Understand and clarify your market.
What would your business be without your clients? But are your really clear about who your target clients are? Why is this important?
This is what step 4 of my 8-step blueprint for creating success in your business is all about – getting clear about your market. You need to identify your target market, understand them (get inside their head) and your competitors. Do your homework and get really crystal clear here – it will drive your marketing plan and almost everything else in your business plan, including how you’re going to fill some of those gaps you identified in Step 3 (if you missed last week’s installment on Gap Analysis or any of the last 3 weeks posts in this series, you can find them HERE [add link]).
Why is niche clarity important? Well, imagine you’re developing your service offering or product…how much easier do you think it is to develop and market that product/service when you have a clear vision of who you’re developing it for? Is it easier to speak to and attract the world…or a specific group of people? In honing in on your specific target market, or niche, you’ll want clear answers to these 5 questions:
- Who are they?
- Where are they located?
- What is their biggest challenge that they want solved right away?
- How does your offering solve that challenge, and what would it mean for your client to have that challenge solved? and
- Why would they choose your offer over someone else’s? What is your unique selling proposition?
You don’t want a target a niche that is so small that it won’t give you the sales you’re looking for, but at the same time, you don’t want target one that’s so diverse that you get lost in the ocean.
At this point, you’ll also want to know about the arena you’re playing in – information on your competitors, your market potential, and the overall environment that your business is playing in. These factors could have a significant impact on where and when you decide to play, and the specific business, finance and marketing strategies that you will play with to win the game of business success in that arena.
This is not a quick and easy step to get through, and should be given considerable focus and attention. Get assistance and feedback from experts, peers and focus groups to help you get clear with your market, market environment and competition. The best input and feedback I’ve ever received is from not only my business coaches, but the mastermind and business support groups that I participate in.
If you would like assistance with clarifying your target market or building your business road map to success, contact me to set up your complimentary Business Clarity Breakthrough Session.
PS – Speaking of niche…with my target customer in mind, I’ve been working on a great new line up of workshops and programs for passionate small business owners, to help them master their business cash flows more effectively and efficiently. Watch for our Events Calendar and MARK YOUR CALENDAR for the next workshop coming up on February 29th (registration opening soon)!
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