There are a lot of articles about how to find your niche online. You’d like to start a business but you don’t know really where to start, so naturally you want some help. Wouldn’t it be great if someone would look at you, your life and your interests and magically come up with a niche for you to pursue? I’m actually really good at that. Unfortunately it generally doesn’t work.
I have lots of experience in enterprise architecture and project management so I tend to see all the pieces when I look at things. They might not be in great detail, but I’m pretty good at seeing how the big pieces go together. I tend to do the same thing with clients that I work with. I can see a path from where they are to where they could be, that they generally can’t see. And that’s where the problem generally starts. It’s usually enough to generate some excitement, or scare them, but it’s usually a fleeting glimpse of the future. It’s one way to find your niche.
The laws of Newton
Generally a body in motion stays in motion and a body at rest stays at rest. The later is where most people are when we have the conversation. They aren’t moving forward, and often don’t know how to move forward. The glimpse of the future is often something to be afraid of – even if it’s what they want. I’ve held people’s hand to the point of almost doing things for them, but they can’t take that first step. They want to, but they don’t have the vision within them. It’s just been given to them and they are comfortable right where they are. So nothing happens. So even though I have given them a picture of what is possible, it never becomes there own and it eventually goes the way of all unused ideas.
It’s different when you are stuck
Being stuck is different. It implies you were making forward motion and something stopped your progress. All the energy to move forward is just being blocked somehow. The vision is still there as is the desire. One of the things that I’ve learned is that knowing your direction and knowing your destination are often different things. Sometimes knowing your outcome actually leads to your desired goal. More often than not the outcome you are pursuing really only puts you in the right direction to get where you are going. This is one of the challenges when you try to find your niche. It’s not always what you think it is. Things that make sense looking back, rarely make sense looking forward.
Ways to Find your Niche
Sharing a new vision with someone who is stuck is a very different experience. They are much more able to evaluate and respond to it and generally use the information directly. Or at a minimum it gives them alternatives that they hadn’t thought of, and they are able to see another solution based on the direction provided. The energy is simply reapplied and they are able to head off in the direction of their goal.
Are you already moving forward?
This is a question I need to ask more often. I get excited when people say they want to start a business. Naturally I want to help because I see their potential. I can usually come up with a 5 year plan in about as many minutes. Then I realize that they aren’t moving forward, and I know the idea is probably going to die. I much prefer finding out someone is stuck. I may not always be able to help them, but more often than not I can get them headed in a direction again.
