How can you possibly find a niche market by accident, you ask?
Think about it. When was the last time you needed or wanted something and couldn’t find it? I can guarantee that if YOU are looking for something and can’t find it, there are many others looking for a similar item as well!
There is a quote that is definitely worth thinking about: “Find a need and fill it”. Looking back over the past few months or the past year, how many times has somebody asked if you know where to find a certain widget, or if it is even available. Or perhaps you were looking for something special to complete a project you were working on, couldn’t find what you needed, so you “improvised” and then were able to finish the project. What if you could make and market that item that you “improvised” and be able to make life much easier for hundreds or perhaps even thousands of others.
When my business partner gave birth to her first child she decided to breastfeed the baby. Breastfeeding is highly encouraged, so it was no surprise that of the twenty babies in the hospital newborn nursery, seventeen of the mothers were breastfeeding.
Then came the problem – she would need comfortable “nursing” garments to wear at home and when she went back to work.
The very few nursing garments available were extremely expensive and they all looked the same, plus she couldn’t find any patterns to make nursing garments.
As a pattern making instructor and author for over thirty years, she turned my attention to this area of pattern making. If my business partner couldn’t find clothing or patterns, what about the other seventeen nursing mothers in just the one hospital where her baby was born? And what about the prospective nursing mothers all around the country?
Our “accidental” stumbling into this niche market because of her need for nursing clothing brought i-nursing to life, which now offers a wide variety of nursing patterns, as well as a wealth of information for the nursing mother.
Again I ask, when was the last time you searched and researched for a particular item to no avail? Assess your own skills to see if you could fill that particular market with written information, a product that would fill the need, etc. Perhaps you could work with a friend and do some serious brain storming about the possibilities. The opportunities are endless!
Leave a Reply