What the Heck IS a Niche, Anyway?
- Victoria Hogg
- Aug 7, 2025
- 3 min read
Gooday, people! |
We asked a hundred people [1] what niching really is, from a business perspective.
The answer was pretty much split between what the offer is (1) and who you serve (2). For example: “IMPROV Inc. offers applied improvisation (1) to business owners (2). So, what’s the niche? Is it applied improvisation or business owners? For clarity, here at IMPROV Inc. we take the niche as the service offer. But as always it needs context. And one way to create context is to answer these questions sequentially: What is it you do, are you good at it, does the world need it and will people pay for it? These four questions will help you define your niche. [1] OK, maybe not a hundred |
What the HECK is a Niche, anyway?
TRY IT OUT:
Internal versus external. Every customer has an obvious external problem. Like, a restaurant’s customers’ are hungry. The customer will usually have an internal problem too. They want an ambient atmosphere where they can relax, enjoy great food and forget their first world problems. Try this. For every service offer you have, create the external and internal problems you solve. Because it’s the internal problems you solve that sells.
“A confused mind never buys” Donald Miller, Building a Storybrand (2017)
Something and nothing…
Why do so many high street shops sell something and nothing? WH Smith’s… it’s full of stuff that mostly you don’t need. What is it they really do and who are they really serving? A big give-away to the confusion is the attempted ‘give-away’ at the till, when you buy your Bic-biro and you get the optional upsell of a kilo of chocolate for £5 and a 50p-off voucher for Soap-Weekly shoved in your face. Woolworths, Wilkinsons (and others) went bust when folk realised they didn’t need a Laurel & Hardy door stop or a wicker-style photo frame any more. A proper pick’n’mix death-toll.
Something with tread…
My local independent shoe shop sells shoes. That’s it. But it’s more than that. The welcome you get from the owner is a treat. Smiles, laughing, knowing comments… he grips you and draws you into the shop. “Oh here they come, the family with five pairs of feet and more than a few lost soles.” Not sure if it’s the same with other families, but we often leave the shop with more pairs than we intended to buy. How does he do it? “I’m on a shoestring budget, don’t you know” I’d tell him. You’ve got to go with the Dad-joke flow.
On the flip side, he sometimes throws in a bargain or even a free pair of kids’ shoes, if they’re end of season. “They’re no good to me” he chortles. And yet they are good to him. We keep following the footsteps back to his ever-present shop.
“There are no mistakes, only opportunities” Tina Fey, actor, comedian, writer, producer
Something very needed…
Ice cream. It’s holiday season. We need ice-cream. Even when the kids don’t need it, they need it. For us adults, the need stretches a bit further. It’s not so much that we need it, it’s more about where are we going to eat it. In the park, by the beach, whilst we wander around the quaint little rustic village shops and alleyways? We need the backdrop. We need to set the scene properly. If we can’t do this, then you know what, the ice cream don’t taste so good or feel so needed. Think about it.
All the best,
Vic (and Paul)
