The lesson from these 3 companies – Find your niche

There they are, the person who you and everyone else hates, swaggering down the corridor towards you, smiling their rictus grin as if to say, ‘PLEASE LIKE ME’.

They’re not disliked because they’re unpleasant. They’re disliked because they’re desperately pleasant. They have the demeanour of someone who wants everyone to like them, to be as socially versatile as a talkative Swiss army knife, and as such they end up being blander than a PowerPoint presentation on bathroom tiles. There is a lesson here.

In many ways that person is the ideal analogy for a rubbish business – trying so hard to please everyone that it ends up pleasing no one.

There are 1001 flagging companies in your local postal district doing exactly that, but chances are none of them have the faintest clue why their USP is failing them.

And of course they’re problem is clearer than the Caspian Sea – exclusion is the key to good practice in business.

By finding your niche, you’re inevitably leaving other customers out in the cold so you can focus on the ones who will positively adore your product.

To show you what we mean, here are three businesses that have drilled down into their niche and come up trumps in the profit margins.

Avacta Animal Health

Your animal means the world to you, and as such you expect your vet to care almost as much about your pet as you do. In turn, vets know that a big part of their branding revolves around the reliability of the products they use, which is why they go out of their way to find trusted and well established suppliers.

Enter Avacta Animal Health, a company which tests animal blood and other samples for allergies, and provides veterinarians with accurate results.

They tick all the boxes – their website is spiffy, their service is well known and they’re clearly efficient.

What’s more, they know their niche inside and out.

The lesson: Understand your market thoroughly and you’ll corner it like a Muller yoghurt.

Lush

Cosmetics are a crowded market, and making your voice heard is like screaming the lead singer’s name at an Iron Maiden arena tour and expecting a reply. But one company has managed to have their brand name heard through the din, and they’ve done it by wagging their finger at the majority of consumers.

Lush positioned themselves as the brand of choice for anyone concerned about animal welfare, and as such have netted a loyal following amongst a growing swell of vegetarians, vegans and ethical aficionados.

The lesson: Morals won’t bankrupt your company. In some cases they’ll make it a success story.

MailChimp

The world of mass marketing is a complicated one, and yet a glut of business owners reckon they can capture their demographic with nothing but their wits and a wad of cash.

Any good thinking person knows otherwise – and an application like MailChimp proves them correct.

While the average Jo or Jolene can send an email to their contact list via MailChimp, only the pros will be able to utilise this marketing automation platform with the finesse of a card shark at a poker table.

The lesson: Some applications should demonstrate the usefulness of professionals to befuddled amateurs. Being a stone wall isn’t always a bad thing.

That’s our list! What niche companies do you think deserve to be lauded for their success? Let us know in the comments below!