Women Consultants, Are You A Big Fish in a Small Pond?
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When we created the website for our first consulting business, we ended up listing at least 30 things we did. We were trying to cover all our bases and it would have taken probably six hours to read through the whole thing. Looking back, it’s one of those classic mistakes that I see new consultants make all the time.
We hadn’t picked our niche yet. We didn’t know what we wanted to offer or what people would buy. When they start out, many people think offering a wide range of services is a good thing. We did at the time! Why would you want to narrow down your options?
But.
Niching gives you focus. You can concentrate on one specific area and get really good at it. You can collect testimonials from clients who have all bought that one service and show yourself to be a leader in your field relatively quickly.
Far from closing doors, you find that you have created an opportunity. You are building a reputation and a client base. This will enable you to invest back into your business. You can outsource, build a team, and invest in systems which help you deliver to more clients without it having to be you, personally, delivering the service.
While you might think you’re playing small by being specific, you can actually corner a market that no-one else is in. There’s a great book about this called Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. They argue that you don’t go for the red water where all the other sharks already are, you go for the blue water where there are fresh fish to be caught.
Not only does this help you reel in clients, but you also become attractive to potential buyers. You have built a specialist company serving a specific need. It’s clear your business works, and you are profitable. You might not have started your business with a view to selling it, but you can now start shopping around for a different ideal client: a buyer. Think about what they are going to be looking for and engineer that into your business as you go. If you have a cast iron niche, you will be able to identify who your business would be a good fit for.
There are plenty of general businesses out there, but they don’t catch people’s attention. If you can be a big fish in a small pond, you will find it much easier to grow your consultancy.
Let me know, have you got a clear niche for your consulting business?
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Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear your feedback and future topics you’d like me to feature. You may also enjoy The Seven Figure Consultant Podcast, the show that takes you from booked up and burned out in your consulting business to THRIVING as the CEO of your 7 figure enterprise.