Why You Shouldn't Be Afraid To Niche In Your Business - Podcast Episode 55

When it comes to niching your business, it can seem frightening and restricting… yet it is quite the opposite. Niching does not mean missing out on business, and it actually means get more. 

In this podcast, we get into the nitty-gritty of niching and how it can benefit your law firm.

In my law firm business, years ago, we were a general practice. We did a little bit of everything, leasing, conveyancing, wills and estates, family law, criminal, really whatever came in the door. It was the licorice allsorts approach to running a business and it became overwhelming for us and our audience. It was challenging to be across everything in each of those areas of law and you can’t possibly go deep in your knowledge when you are spreading yourself thin across different practice areas.

When I took over the practice in 2012, I wanted to niche the business right down, do the work that I loved and speak directly to one audience. This meant that I had to get rid of some legal services that were generating income from every month.

This was scary! I got rid of conveyancing which was generating around $20,000.00 per month at the time, this was more than half of the firm’s revenue! Can you imagine cutting your revenue in half? It was so frightening and I was fearful of doing so, however… When I dove into the numbers I realised that this area of the business, although generating a good figure of income per month it was not providing any profit – in fact, it was costing the firm money.

You can’t serve everybody!

By cutting this legal service out of the business and refocusing fully on one practice area, we could scale MUCH faster! The month that the conveyancing sector was cut, I handed all the files over to another firm which felt so good, and it made space for the firm to do work that we wanted to be doing, family law.

Through experience, I know how to niche down and do it effectively! 

So, how can niching benefit your business and help you long term?

1. Limit Competition!

If you are running a general practice, you are competing with ALL of the people who are offering the same generalised service and the ones who are niched. When you offer a niche service, you are then catering to particular target audiences, whereby you are then not competing with everyone else.

2. It Is Easier and More Cost-Effective To Advertise!

When you are targeting a niche group of people, advertising and messaging is simplified. For example, for my family law firm, I am able to advertise directly to people who are going through the separation of divorce, rather than everyone who needs legal assistance.  It makes it a lot easier to target the people you want to attract to your tailored service.  If you are trying to attract everybody, you appeal to nobody. 

3. It Is Easier To Create Valuable Referral Partners: 

There are a bunch of businesses out there that are not in competition with you that serve the same clients as you do. When you niche down, you are able to target those businesses and create referral relationships where you refer each other work. For example, in my field of work, this could be real estate agents, accountants, financial planners, or other lawyers that do not practice family law. You can safely refer these businesses to work without fearing; you will lose the client.

4. When You Niche You Can Establish A Community: 

When it comes to community, people like to hang around with people just like them. Because of this, you can actually find groups of people who are your exact niche and target audience. The perfect example of this is in Facebook groups! No matter what business, there are vibrant groups full of people who may need your assistance.

5. Become An Expert Leader In Your Industry! 

This means that you are the go-to person in your industry, and you can brand yourself the expert in your niche; after all, that is all you do, day in and day out! You can communicate the value you are offering far better than if you were an ‘all-rounder.’ When you do this, you are creating a bigger trust circle, so people are more likely to buy from you when trust is established.

You Are Not Locking Yourself In

Niching feels like you are locking yourself in; however, this is absolutely not true! It doesn’t mean that you can’t serve people or are stuck. You do become an expert in your industry. It doesn’t mean that you have to stay there forever. You are just choosing your path for now, so people know where to go when they have the problem that you solve. It is totally fine to pivot as you go; we are not locked in.

Gain traction in your industry by creating a niche. If this sounds easier said than done, why don’t you check out the Scalable Business Society, where I dive into exactly how and where you should go PLUS a whole heap more!

To find out more, click one of the links below and DM me ‘SCALABLE’ or check out my free masterclass by clicking here. 

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