How I can find a profitable niche for my consulting business?

Hi, Great question to post. I've been in your situation a number of times so understand where you are coming from. Both from startup's i've had through to working on Go To Market strategies in large businesses.

The first place i would look to is defining geographically where i wish to cover e.g a local area or national or do i wish to span several countries?

Next, look at the new business "birth" rate and "death" rate within that region. This will give you an idea of a high level gross add's and net businesses you could work with assuming you wish to be helping them in their "early life startup phase".

Depending on how specific your new product is, you should look to segment further. However I am a big fan of looking at my customers or potential customers based on how they behave and "Buy" - too often we get focused on how to "sell" to new customers but not understand the former.

Also, think about this. Are they motivated to participate in your coaching program, or are you looking for people that require motivation to make their business successful, in turn they are looking for coaching? Again this will then help you to further drill down into "who" the clients are and "Why" they buy. It will also define where you should be networking etc or finding new business.

Happy to talk further over Skype or Google Hangouts if you wish to. I'm based in New Zealand, currently working for a global SaaS provider. NZ is +12 GMT.

Cheers
Guy

Guy has already addressed some of the technical aspects of evaluating a niche.

I'll take a little more generalized approach.

What and who are you passionate about helping?

For example, I have a great amount of knowledge in a particular field, but hate working in it. On the other hand, I am always excited to learn more about applying technology in marketing and sales to make more efficient and effective connections between brands and consumers.

To choose to target those who could use my talents in the first scenario may be profitable, but I would not be happy. Whereas spending time with those I can help in the area I am passionate about will inspire me to get up and tackle new problems every day.

Even as a consultant, helping others pursue *their* passion, you will want to start your journey in a field or industry that *you* have a passion for. Otherwise, you will be less effective to them AND be ticking down the seconds until you reach frustration in a field you're not enthusiastic about.

Consider who you've been successful with so far. What do they have in common? Don't be afraid to go beyond the big buckets of B2C and B2B or healthcare, tech, etc. Think about level in the org, working style, business problems.

Then figure out how to get more. Once you know the answers to the first questions, then you can focus on where those kinds of people are.

I've discovered that we're really successful working with non-technical founders, or solo founders who need marketing support. This has led to thinking about my network and who might know others like this who could use our skills, beyond the usual suspects in our tech bubble in silicon valley.

I'd hyper segment. I've seen people build incredibly successful niches by finding segments like opthamologists offices and funeral homes. those groups have trade shows that are super hubs to expand; and once you succeed with a few, word of mouth helps you grow.

The easiest thing to sell is dollars for pennies. So, tell them how they can improve their business, increase sales, make more profit, and focus on small businesses.

Do not continue to exchange hours for dollars. It is a losing game. You can never win doing this. Bill only by the project. And get paid according to percentage of completion. In addition, charge a royalty whenever possible. You have to establish yourself as the go-to expert in your field to do this.

Spend as much time as it takes to come up with answering this question..Why would I buy your product or service? This will give you your USP. From there you will develop your drive, your, passion, and your marketing voice. From this you will develop unstoppable perseverance for success.

Best of Luck,
Mike
From the Trenches to the Towers Marketing
I will be glad to help as my time permits.