How to find new niches in business. The importance of finding and testing your profitable business niche. Expertise in the chosen field of activity

How to find a business that will help people and make a profit ,

Denis Dmitriev will tell

entrepreneur, inventor and dreamer.

As a child, I traveled all over the country with my parents and the Italmas ensemble, my mother worked as an administrator, and my father played the balalaika. After a career as an artist, my father became an entrepreneur, and I constantly went to his office to sit at the computer. I remember that back then there was an Internet connection at a speed of 2400 bits per second, which is 20 thousand times less than now through a smartphone. Access to huge information resources helped me develop quickly. Then I became very interested high technology. I started my career as a system administrator in 1998, then worked for 10 years in marketing, PR, insurance sales, HR consulting.

But I felt really happy when I returned to the technology business. I started as a regional manager at LG Electronics in the Volga region and have grown to a senior regional manager. Then I was invited to one of the most technological companies of the manufacturer of smartphones HTC, remember the first handheld computers with styluses on the Windows system? And then the first Android smartphone for Google. In this company, I developed sales in the regions of Russia and created 60% of the company's total turnover in the Russian Federation. At the height of my success at HTC, I was invited by the Canadian company BlackBerry to join the development team for Russia and the CIS countries. Now they are used by many leaders of countries, for example, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel. At BlackBerry, I started as a Distribution and Marketing Manager and ended my career as an Employment Director General BlackBerry Russia & CIS. For 7 years of work in foreign companies I got tremendous experience, which projected onto the Russian regional business.

Now I dedicate myself completely own business and looking for partners who will work with me on a common goal: to make the world a better place.

How did I find a business idea "to my liking"?

I was interested in mastering a market where the possibilities are almost endless. I looked around, looked for what each person has and thought about how I can do it better. When I looked out of the window at the city, I realized that behind every same window there lives another person with his interesting history and various life situations. I looked at my window sill with a layer of black dust and thought how nice it would be to keep the house fresh and not have to open the window at all. I was looking for various solutions, including heaped up split air conditioning systems and expensive supply and exhaust ventilation systems. But it was all too complicated for a simple layman.

Using the method of inaccurate analytics, I calculated that there is one window per person in Russia, and this is about 146 million windows. Of these, some have already been upgraded to plastic structures, and the second part has yet to survive this.

Germany is considered the birthplace of this domestic miracle, but the technology quickly spread to other countries. Therefore, plastic windows are also produced in Russia. The only difference between Russian and German windows is that ours lack ventilation, while German technology is not suitable for our weather conditions.

The lack of forced ventilation in Russian windows gave rise to a lot of problems in operation. From unpleasant, for example, fogging of windows, stuffiness, fungi, mold, drafts during airing, to shocking ones - explosions of houses from the accumulation of gases when using gas stoves, children falling out from the ninth floors, when mothers try to ventilate the apartment and do not have time to keep track of the child who climbed onto the windowsill with the window open.

Our engineers could not accept these problems and developed ventilation technology suitable for Russian conditions. This know-how was invented in the city of Izhevsk(this city is famous for its engineers, for example, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov) and began its use in a device that we called . This is a technologically advanced plastic device that is installed in the profile of any plastic window and allows you to ventilate the apartment with the windows closed.

A distinctive advantage of our development is that the windows do not freeze through and their basic properties, such as sound insulation and thermal insulation, are not violated. We have installed a filter in our development that purifies the air from dust, pollen, black dust ( rubber crumb from tires of cars that are erased on asphalt) and harmful impurities in the air. We purchased expensive Korean plastic that does not fade or crumble, and produced the first batch for retail customers. Our production is located in Izhevsk and can fulfill any orders in short time, so we decided not to delay scaling.

Why franchise?

When I thought about a retail project, the idea immediately came to mind to use the business model proven by such giants as Samsung, HP, Xerox and many other successful manufacturers of printers and cartridges for them. I decided that we would help solve the life situations of our clients in the "single window" mode and with the highest level of service. We will install window filters and service them with replacement cartridges and related services directly by our service managers. This guarantees the quality of the window filter for life and the maximum satisfaction of our client. In order to convey the possibility of using our services to the entire population of our great country, we began to develop a business scaling model based on the franchising system.

We want to control the quality of our service at all stages and trust our trademark(guarantor of the quality of service) only to trusted people who will immerse themselves in our common cause with all their heart and responsibility.

To make the franchise accessible to any level of entrepreneur, we have eliminated lump-sum fees and royalties. This will allow you to start a business in almost any city. Even a city of 50,000 people can bring stable income not only through the installation of window filters, but also through maintenance (cartridge replacement) and additional sales of accessories and related products. For example, we are now developing a household air quality monitor in an apartment that any family can afford to buy, while such professional devices cost about $ 400 and their functionality is difficult to understand. We are constantly improving and finding new development opportunities, primarily technological ones. For a year now we have been working on new version window filter, which will attract a very wide audience, especially we want to attract young people. I can not lift the veil of secrecy, but I assure you, the device turns out to be very interesting and has the potential to international market due to its versatility and manufacturability. Now we are working on a patent for a new model, after applying for a patent, we will publish the data.

Social responsibility

We try to make our filters accessible to everyone, so we carry out various charity events within our network.

Imagine a large family. Mom and dad work hard to feed everyone. Winter is coming, small children are playing on the floor, the house is hot and stuffy. No one can stand not to open the window. A draft appears in the apartment, and children can get sick. What burdens will the whole family bear in this case! You need to pay for medicines and treatments, take time off from work. But these can be our new astronauts and inventors, great writers and actors. We may not have dinner at the restaurant big company or skip another trip south and it will be enough to provide this family with window filters.

Imagine labor veterans, and maybe even disabled people. They gave most of their lives to secure our future. They now have to stay at home almost all day and night. Keep windows open all the time. It is cold in winter, noisy and dusty in summer, there are many cars. Constantly getting up and walking to the window to ventilate the apartment for 5 minutes is difficult and dangerous.

Who will help them if not ourselves? You must always start with yourself. We want to set an example for ordinary citizens and businessmen to do the same. Now we are implementing charitable projects entirely at our own expense, and we will always do this, but this is not enough to cover the needs of many who need it. We plan to raise funds by various methods, from promotional stands in public places, to individual orders. Soon we let's run new project"Green Window Filter" it will indeed be green, we have a sample in the office in Izhevsk. All proceeds from this window filter will go to charitable projects. Install a “Green Window Filter” for yourself and the person who needs it no less will have exactly the same one. As more and more "Green Window Filters" are seen on our windows, we will notice how the world is getting better.

On the topic "how to test an idea over the weekend." After reading it, I said, “wow! Finally, someone wrote specifically and to the point” and decided to write longreads in a similar style.

Below I will make a free extended retelling of this article into Russian, taking into account my own experience. This is perhaps the most working recipe I know (I’ll make a reservation right away - this approach is more likely to create small niche, marginal projects). The trouble of the majority (including mine) is that we usually do not like to act according to proven recipes and always invent something, as a result, the market punishes such people.

This approach is the opposite of the word "promotion". In general, the failure of most projects begins with the word “promotion”. For example, you can draw - let's "advance" you. Or maybe you have a cool gadget and you also need to “promote” it? When someone tries to "push" something, there is usually such wild environmental resistance that the project falls apart.

Promotion and mass training of people for new behavior is only possible large companies with big budgets. It is much more profitable for small startups to be like water, not to strive for “promotion”, but simply fill in the bumps and market needs (niches). How can one not remember the phrase of the great Bruce Lee "Be water, my friend"?

So let's get started. In short, the instruction for use consists of 4 steps:

Finding a niche where people are already spending money and ideas that are already selling
Search for sites, sales channels where people are already gathered and habitually spend money.
Determine the problem and its size.
Hypothesis Testing with Landing Pages and Direct Selling.

Step 1. Looking for niches where people spend money and ideas that are ALREADY sold

This is a key "thinking" moment. It's simple - you need to look at what people are already spending money on, including yourself.

Landmark number 1 - Where do you regularly spend money yourself?

Let's take education for example. Where did I spend my money in this area? Books. On average, 2-4 books per month, with an average check of 300 rubles. That is, about 12 thousand rubles a year. Tutors: Chinese, English, swimming, sound engineering, etc. On average, once a week with an average check of 1.5 thousand rubles. in 60 min. That is, about 10 thousand rubles per month or 100 thousand rubles per year.

Oddly enough, I didn’t pay a dime for one video course or webinar - everything I needed, I found in abundance on Youtube, Slideshare, Quora, torrents and other open, free sources. Here's how you can structure your own cost analysis. For example:

You have a car and you spend money on it, formulate a niche like this: "those who have a car." Next, calculate the regular costs per year. For example, 200 thousand rubles (per year) consists of:
1. insurance - 60 thousand rubles. 1 time per year. (60 thousand per year)
2. gasoline - 2 thousand per week. (104 thousand per year)
3. coffee, CDs, magazines - 300 rubles, once a week. (15 thousand per year)
4. etc.
You have a cat and you also spend money on it. Niche "those who have a cat." I get about 20 thousand rubles a year (1 thousand for feed per month + 3 thousand for medicines, veterinarians, etc., 1 time per quarter.)
etc. - on average, an adult has at least 20-30 such niches in which you spend large sums for years: fishing, music, travel, children, food, etc.

You might think it's easy to calculate the size of the market from here. For example, let's multiply the costs of the 1st motorist (200 thousand rubles per year) by the number of motorists, for example, in Moscow. But it was not there. We need not just a market, but a "market that is accessible to you." More on this later.

Landmark #2 - Bestsellers and Influencers

Here are some additional filter tips where to look for information about what people regularly spend money on (not just going to, but actually spending):

All these studies can be done in a couple of days. But there is one thing that really takes a lot of time - this is getting to know the key market participants (competitors, partners, etc.), let's call them "opinion leaders". In any industry, there are only up to 100 people worth getting to know and asking the right questions.

For starters, you should write them out and subscribe to them on FB, VK, twitter - try to get in touch, read everything you can about them, meet, etc. If you enter a market from scratch, then to get to know everyone the right people and understanding the basic rules of the game, in my experience, takes at least six months to a year. This is called "understanding and feeling the market."

Landmark No. 3 Up-sell (additional sales to bestsellers)

In general, we are rather stereotyped creatures and get used to spending money on the same "niches". And we are very afraid to spend money on unfamiliar things in unfamiliar circumstances. We easily spend 300 rubles. for coffee in a cafe. And if the check is 400 rubles. (+100 rubles, for example, for a magazine) will not be particularly surprised.

But try to sell the same magazine for 100 rubles. a person in an unfamiliar place. According to various studies, at the moment when a person parted with money in the usual circumstances (in a store, in a cafe, at a gas station), he can be sold another 10-20% to the check and he will not feel it. You paid 3 thousand rubles for gasoline. and easily pay 200 rubles for another coffee. We bought a ticket to France for 100 thousand rubles and easily spent 5 thousand rubles. on excursions or 1000 rubles. for insurance.

Therefore, the simplest and most successful thing that can be done at the start is to be that extra. product. As I wrote before, The best way to start something is to “integrate into the food chain” of an already prepared market and not try to create demand. There is a big iphone market, super - sell covers. There is a big market building materials- super, sell them interior design courses. After all these procedures, you should have at least 2-3 filtered hypothesis ideas.

What is a niche?

We will call a niche a place where a) there are already regular payments for goods / services, their nature is understandable and measurable. b) at this point we want to do something that:

will cut costs by 2 times, at the same value
will double the quantity sold, at the same cost
2 times save time, at the same cost and value

Here are the results I got in the “education” topic:

Tutoring. The bestseller in tutoring is " English language"and" mathematics "for schoolchildren before the exam.
Corporate training. There are obvious bestsellers "sales" and "time management"
Books. Here, children's books turned out to be the most pleasant niche, since they cannot be used in digital format (!) And therefore they will always be bought in paper form with a high average check.

Now, for a warm-up, let's compare the mental attitudes of 3 different people:

“The market for English language tutors in Russia is about $2B per year, on average we have about 5 million schoolchildren and parents spend 10 thousand rubles per child per month. The average check is 1500 rubles. for 1 lesson 90 minutes. How can I find a platform where they have already been collected and in order to still offer this, to THE SAME people who are ALREADY spending money.
"Popular all over the world distance learning and webinars. But what if I make a portal where all webinars will be collected and I will promote it through SEO.
“I am writing a book about my experience in such and such a field and as soon as I finish it I will promote it.”

Have you guessed which of them has a more "entrepreneurial" view of the situation?

Niche generator, business ideas and hypotheses.

I have a method that allows me to find various new hypotheses, business ideas and free niches.

But about him, as Shaherizade liked to say, I will tell in the next post. Subscribe and follow if you're interested.

P.S. By the way, I am often approached by different projects at different stages. Sometimes they just fill up with letters. Therefore, I decided to create such a service as "mentor by email subscription". Take 3-5 projects that I will help on a regular basis. Moreover, the projects themselves will determine the cost of a monthly subscription. You can leave a request, the rules are also described there. Even if I do not undertake to communicate with you regularly, in any case I will give some useful feedback.

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We often see clients who have really big solutions, but they are often forgotten, because it's trying to please everyone, and not working with one vertical. Focusing on a specific sector can help reinforce your message to those who have a real need for your business.

No matter what industry you are in, you must become an expert in your field. In doing so, you will also be able to define your niche, which is an essential part of growing your business. If you're struggling to find your niche (or you don't know what a niche is), you're not alone, this is something that many entrepreneurs and business owners struggle with. Here are some tips on how to find (and continually improve) your niche.

What is a niche?

Your company's niche is a specific segment of your target audience where you position yourself as an expert. It's also where you focus the most marketing assets for your products and services - and where you can differentiate your company from the competition. It's a space where you truly "know your best" by delivering value and providing what no one else can do the same.

Why is a niche important?

Define your niche is the best way to get competitive advantage before other companies. Whether you are a consultant, small business owner, or entrepreneur, there will always be competition. And the best way to beat your competitors is to be the leader in your field. Your niche (because of your experience, unique set of skills and services) is also the reason why potential customers should buy your products or services and not from someone else. Defining a niche also helps you expand your knowledge in a specific area of your industry. Not only is this a boon to your business, but it also helps filter out customers who don't qualify. Once your niche is defined, only relevant customers come to the fore where your business is right for them.

How to find your niche?

In order to discover your niche, ask yourself and your team these key questions that will help you identify areas where you should focus as much as possible and ultimately lead you closer to your niche:

What are the typical use cases for your products? Make a list of your products and services to find out how your products can be used.
What are the common pain points of your customers? If you have an idea of what your niche is, this is a great exercise to figure out exactly who your target audience is. Find out what common challenges your customers have and use those pain points to define your niche.
What are your key differences? Why should someone buy your products or services and not your competitors? What sets you apart from the crowd of similar proposals? Highlight and underline these differentiators.
What is your solution to pain points? Once you understand the pain points in your market, it's time to find a solution. Keep this post as simple as possible, your solution should be crystal clear. The clearer it is to you, the clearer it will be to the client.
What is the result of your decision? People love statistics, they love quantitatively good results. Find specific numbers and case studies to prove that your solution is what they are looking for. For example, "We helped this company save X dollars, generate Y% more sales and we reach Z in 7 days." Make it unforgettable.
Who is the opinion leader and who makes the decisions? Find out the key contacts you want to talk to and identify the important aspects of your product or service for them. Do you have a solution to a personal or business problem for them? If not, then find new clients. If so, contact these people and work to find more similar situations.
Where do you win? Find out who your main customers are and analyze them comprehensively. Learn as much as you can about each of them. Do they have something in common? What are their pain points? What do they have in common and how do they differ? Is there a trend among top clients? Define your ideal client profile.
Why do your customers love/need you? Don't just be a "pleasant to do business" company. You want your customers to need your product to help them become more successful. Find a way to change the current sentence so that it becomes "this is exactly what we need". It may take some time for fine tuning and processing, but the result is worth it.

Once you've asked yourself these questions, collect your answers and use them to carve out your niche. This will separate you from your competitors and make the decision easier for your potential clients by proving to them that you are a better fit for their needs.

During this process, you may run into problems, but don't worry, it will give you the opportunity to discover new places to grow your business. Even when you feel like you've identified your niche, go back to these questions and see if there's room for further improvement. A niche is a specialized knowledge that needs to be constantly improved.

At the planning stage entrepreneurial activity it is important to choose the right path.

Literally, a niche is a recess in the wall. Globally - a zone of convenience. In the economy - a free place where the entrepreneur will be able to realize the plan.

The task of a novice businessman is to choose one in order to find clients.

Niche Requirements

Arouse interest among those who cannot find a service in the proper volume on the market.
Demand
To be free is to focus on a specific target audience that has an unmet need for your product.

These criteria guarantee the profitability of the business.

When a person wants to do business, he looks for ideas for implementation, focusing on what surrounds him. The first plans are associated with current activities:

trade in products, things;
restaurants, cafes;
shoe repair, tailoring;
pharmacy.

It's easy to navigate - follow the standard selection algorithm: narrow the search to a minimum. Example:

Segment (confectionery).
Category (cakes).
Nisha (wedding).

The narrowing should be maximum, then things will go more efficiently. Impress the young with sweet figurines of the bride and groom for decoration.

What is the best area to open a business?

Not all branches of private entrepreneurship are profitable and in demand.

Those who have achieved success remember how they started from scratch, looked for options and ideas, rejoiced at the first money they earned. In many ways they professional growth succeeded thanks to the correct understanding of business processes: someone was based on intuition, the other - on experience.

Find five directions for yourself possible activities according to the algorithm for choosing a particular niche. Check the idea for viability. At this stage, you will have to work hard.

Market research

The demand for products is due to the presence of a constant need for it among a large number of the population. The buyer must want to spend money on the product, and the more he is willing to give money for it (with a minimum investment), the higher the profit will be.

Look at the chosen direction from the side of the buyer - are you ready to spend money on this idea. Talk to friends, relatives - make a list of priority needs for them. Get an opinion on the importance of the chosen way of earning.

Demand and competition analysis

Enter the name of the service in the search bar of the browser - you will understand the approximate number of enterprises that are engaged in a similar business, and evaluate the circle of potential buyers. It is useful to get acquainted with analytical data on a certain type of business, which is published by many authoritative economic publications.

Practice

Check the work of the conceived idea on the test group. It can include relatives and friends. If you want an unbiased assessment, offer a product to a dozen random passers-by or inquire about possible cooperation with companies that, in your opinion, can become customers.

Do not be discouraged if, after carefully developing a business idea, you have to look for other unoccupied market segments. An in-depth analysis of your own creative potential will help with this.

How to determine which business niches are not occupied

According to statistics, promising vectors of entrepreneurship for Russians are:

Services: accounting, legal, repair.
under the order.
Online courses, tutoring (English, singing, dancing, preparing for the exam).
Online stores of gifts, souvenirs in the style of hand made.

How to find a business that will help people and make a profit ,

Denis Dmitriev will tell

entrepreneur, inventor and dreamer.

As a child, I traveled all over the country with my parents and the Italmas ensemble, my mother worked as an administrator, and my father played the balalaika. After a career as an artist, my father became an entrepreneur, and I constantly went to his office to sit at the computer. I remember that back then there was an Internet connection at a speed of 2400 bits per second, which is 20 thousand times less than now through a smartphone. Access to huge information resources helped me to develop quickly. Then I became very interested in high technologies. I started my career as a system administrator in 1998, then worked for 10 years in marketing, PR, insurance sales, HR consulting.

But I felt really happy when I returned to the technology business. I started as a regional manager at LG Electronics in the Volga region and have grown to a senior regional manager. Then I was invited to one of the most technological companies of the manufacturer of smartphones HTC, remember the first handheld computers with styluses on the Windows system? And then the first Android smartphone for Google. In this company, I developed sales in the regions of Russia and created 60% of the company's total turnover in the Russian Federation. At the height of my success at HTC, I was invited by the Canadian company BlackBerry to join the development team for Russia and the CIS countries. Now they are used by many leaders of countries, for example, Barack Obama and Angela Merkel. At BlackBerry, I started as a Distribution and Marketing Manager and ended my employment career as the CEO of BlackBerry Russia & CIS. For 7 years of work in foreign companies, I gained tremendous experience, which I projected onto Russian regional business.

Now I am fully committed to my own business and looking for partners who will work with me on a common goal: to make the world a better place.

How did I find a business idea "to my liking"?

I was interested in mastering a market where the possibilities are almost endless. I looked around, looked for what each person has and thought about how I can do it better. When I looked out the window at the city, I realized that behind every same window there lives another person with his interesting history and different life situations. I looked at my window sill with a layer of black dust and thought how nice it would be to keep the house fresh and not have to open the window at all. I was looking for various solutions, including heaped up split air conditioning systems and expensive supply and exhaust ventilation systems. But it was all too complicated for a simple layman.

Our engineers could not put up with these problems and developed a ventilation technology suitable for Russian conditions. This know-how was invented in the city of Izhevsk(this city is famous for its engineers, for example, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov) and began its use in a device that we called . This is a technologically advanced plastic device that is installed in the profile of any plastic window and allows you to ventilate the apartment with the windows closed.

A distinctive advantage of our development is that the windows do not freeze through and their basic properties, such as sound insulation and thermal insulation, are not violated. We have installed a filter in our development that purifies the air from dust, pollen, black dust (rubber crumb from car tires that rub off on asphalt) and harmful impurities in the air. We purchased expensive Korean plastic that does not fade or crumble, and produced the first batch for retail customers. Our production is located in Izhevsk and can fulfill any orders in a short time, so we decided not to postpone scaling.

Why franchise?

We want to control the quality of our service at all stages and entrust our trademark (guarantor of the quality of service) only to trusted people who will immerse themselves in our common cause with all their heart and responsibility.

To make the franchise accessible to any level of entrepreneur, we have eliminated lump-sum fees and royalties. This will allow you to start a business in almost any city. Even a city with a population of 50,000 people can generate a steady income not only through the installation of window filters, but also through maintenance (cartridge changes) and additional sales of accessories and related products. For example, we are now developing a household air quality monitor in an apartment that any family can afford to buy, while such professional devices cost about $ 400 and their functionality is difficult to understand. We are constantly improving and finding new development opportunities, primarily technological ones. For a year now we have been working on a new version of the window filter, which will attract a very wide audience, especially we want to attract young people. I can not lift the veil of secrecy, but I assure you, the device turns out to be very interesting and has the potential for the international market due to its versatility and manufacturability. Now we are working on a patent for a new model, after applying for a patent, we will publish the data.

Social responsibility

We try to make our filters accessible to everyone, so we hold various charity events within our network.

Imagine a large family. Mom and dad work hard to feed everyone. Winter is coming, small children are playing on the floor, the house is hot and stuffy. No one can stand not to open the window. A draft appears in the apartment, and children can get sick. What burdens will the whole family bear in this case! You need to pay for medicines and treatments, take time off from work. But these can be our new astronauts and inventors, great writers and actors. We may not dine at a restaurant with a large group or miss another trip to the south and this will be enough to provide this family with window filters.

Who will help them if not ourselves? You must always start with yourself. We want to set an example for ordinary citizens and businessmen to do the same. Now we are implementing charitable projects entirely at our own expense, and we will always do this, but this is not enough to cover the needs of many who need it. We plan to raise funds in various ways, from promotional stands in public places to individual orders. Soon we we will launch a new project "Green Window Filter", it will indeed be green, we have a sample in the office in Izhevsk. All proceeds from this window filter will go to charitable projects. Install a “Green Window Filter” for yourself and the person who needs it no less will have exactly the same one. As more and more "Green Window Filters" are seen on our windows, we will notice how the world is getting better.

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