When you’re starting a business one of the first things you need to identify is your target market, or niche. These are the people who’re going to buy your product or service and without them your business will fail!
I was absolutely horrified to read a post on a forum recently that basically said ‘I’ve decided I want to work as a Virtual Assistant with interior designers, how will I work with interior designers?’ It transpired that the person had no design knowledge or experience AND no idea whether interior designers would even need to work with VAs, let alone want to! Whilst it’s true that you’re not going to know everything about a particular niche when you start out you at least have to know the basics of what the job is about and the kinds of things you’re going to be asked to do/provide.
Things to think about…
What experience do you have? Your previous work, voluntary experience or hobbies might suggest a market.
* Action:- Write down all the ideas you have, it doesn’t matter how bizarre they are, this is just a brain dump.
What skills do you have/actually want to use? Remember you’re going to be the boss, so you can decide which of your skills you want to use!
* Action:- Write them down
What do you absolutely NOT want to do?
* Action:- Don’t just write this down, make a GIANT POSTER and put it somewhere you’ll see it every day!
What kind of businesses/professions do you want to work with?
Are there any you would choose to avoid?
* Action:- You guessed it, write it down
You should now have a selection of lists to refer to.
* Action:- Look through the list of your experiences and the list of professions and cross out anything that doesn’t immediately appeal.
Now use the internet to research the sort of businesses/professions you want to target. Does it look like they’d actually make use of the product/service you want to offer?
Make notes of anything useful (particularly potential competitors if you find any).
You might discover that there doesn’t appear to be a market for your product/service, don’t be discouraged though! Phone or email people and companies who might use you and ask if your idea plugs a gap for them (the worst they can say is ‘no’!)
At the end of this process you should have identified your target market or niche and then you’ll be able to look at your potential competition and your possible pricing structure.
I have experience of working in the higher education, arts administration, social housing, primary education, retail and media sectors. All my work experience has brought me in to contact with people as their first port of call to meet their customer service or administration needs.
I also work as a freelance writer and journalist, producing features for print and online publications like The Lady, Cycling World, Scouting Magazine and theschoolrun.com; so I understand the importance of top quality work completed to tight deadlines.
Outside Work
I live in Lancashire, England with my husband and our son and spend my free (?) time Scouting, knitting and reading.