Myths and fears about niching down debunked

Working inside a particular area of interest is one solution to develop your agency. A distinct segment is a sure market or target market you could have experience in and purposefully market to.  For instance, at Summit Digital CFO by Anders, we market our outsourced CFO companies to 4 niches: inventive businesses, legislation corporations, hashish operators, and transportation and logistics firms. 

After years of “niching down” by advertising and marketing to and servicing particular audiences, I’ve discovered that many corporations are interested in this enterprise technique however are a bit skeptical on the identical time. There are various myths flying across the web about how niching down can hurt your agency. That is why I am writing this text: I wish to present why these myths are false and share how niching down has truly helped us develop as an accounting agency. 

Fantasy 1: Discovering and pursuing a distinct segment will restrict your buyer base and negatively influence earnings.

This primary delusion is completely false. I imagine this mind-set comes from the concept that working inside a particular part of the market reduces the dimensions of an organization’s shopper pool. Nonetheless, if you choose a distinct segment with a lot of potential shoppers, your buyer base is not going to be restricted. For instance, I function a digital CFO within the hashish area of interest, a quickly rising trade with few accounting corporations offering companies to firms working inside it. 

With any agency, it is crucial that you simply decide who your goal buyer is and develop advertising and marketing methods that may enable you present accounting companies to that buyer base. Choosing and pursuing a distinct segment is a bit of that course of. Being strategic in your advertising and marketing and the companies you present means you’ll seemingly entice extra shoppers than if you happen to pursued a wider viewers with a extra common message. That is the case since you’re speaking that you simply perceive the challenges and desires of this particular viewers and can be found to deal with them. 

Additionally, niching down doesn’t imply excluding shoppers outdoors a particular part of the market from turning into a shopper. We’ve got had shoppers outdoors of our verticals request our companies, and we now have taken them on as shoppers. If you end up in an analogous scenario, I like to recommend taking these firms on as shoppers if you happen to can present the identical services to assist them obtain their targets. 

Fantasy 2: You’ll succeed by pursuing a distinct segment you are keen about, no matter what trade analysis yields.

Following your ardour is usually inspired in enterprise. Whereas it’s positively crucial that you choose a distinct segment that you simply and your staff are keen about, it is just one of some elements that may enable you select a distinct segment that results in progress. These different elements embody:

• Financial figures that decide if the businesses working inside your chosen area of interest are large enough to develop and maintain your accounting apply. These figures may embody these firms’ income progress and disposable incomes. Each of those figures will reply the query of whether or not or not these companies have the cash to rent your staff.
• The companies you present, which point out whether or not your staff has the talent set crucial to deal with the challenges and desires of your chosen viewers. 
• The present trade panorama, together with the variety of firms and opponents working inside the market. Earlier than choosing your area of interest, you also needs to know the trade’s lifecycle stage. Is enterprise accelerating, booming, decelerating or tanking for these firms? If enterprise is up or booming, you may take into account serving this trade. If you happen to uncover an trade that is decelerating or tanking, you seemingly ought to keep away from that area of interest. 

Fantasy 3: To grow to be a thought chief, you have to be an knowledgeable inside a particular area of interest.

Accounting corporations sometimes use conventional outbound advertising and marketing strategies to construct their shopper base. These strategies embody reaching out to potential shoppers by putting ads in print publications, cold-calling attainable shoppers, collaborating in unsolicited mail campaigns, promoting on tv and radio, and telemarketing. Nonetheless, at Summit, we take an inbound strategy to our advertising and marketing, the place we nurture the shopper by way of thought management. Our potential shoppers attain out to us as a result of we have been offering content material that has alleviated a few of their ache factors already, and they’re able to grow to be a shopper to get extra issues solved. Our thought management methods embody internet hosting webinars, utilizing search engine marketing, sending emails filled with useful weblog posts and sharing on social media. 

Establishing your self and your staff as thought leaders within the area of interest you’ve got chosen will talk to the world that you simply’re well-versed within the particular trade you are serving, which attracts extra individuals inside this area of interest. Nonetheless, you do not have to be the one and solely knowledgeable in that subject or area of interest. You simply need to leverage what you already know and share that data with others by way of advertising and marketing. If you happen to nonetheless do not feel able to label your self as a thought chief, I counsel taking over extra alternatives to share your insights and experiences. The extra you converse on what , the extra comfy you get with the thought of being a thought chief. 

Deciding on a distinct segment is an effective way to develop your accounting agency. The secret is to decide on a distinct segment properly. Step one to efficiently advertising and marketing your new area of interest is to speak your staff’s experience through the use of thought management techniques, finally encouraging your target market to grow to be shoppers. Hopefully, debunking a few of these myths conjures up you to area of interest down to realize your progress targets!