How Do YOU Pronounce Niche?

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April 5, 2011 by Melody Biringer | Comments (0)

We’ve all heard about having a “niche” business- that sexy French word we aren’t quite sure how to pronounce.  It’s root meaning is to make a nest, cubbyhole, or nook, while in the business world it means to incubate and create something unique.  The business press talks about “niche markets” and “boutique” creative shops that focus on a specialized corner of business.

I grew up on a strawberry farm and, at 26, got into the fair concession business with strawberry shortcake.  Over the years my business wandered into many extensions of the berry product line–baking mixes, mustard, honey, cookies–but the real profit always came down to basic strawberries.  After 22 years of showing up with shortcake at local festivals, many people still tell us they come just for the shortcake.  It’s a great focused niche that (knock on wood) I feel I “own.”

On the other hand, I wonder who opened the first shop that “reinvented” the cupcake? Nowadays, you stand in line at the gourmet cupcake shop in every neighborhood in town.  That was a great idea.

Speaking of lines, in a scene right out of “Portlandia,” I recently stood in an hour and a half line to buy four donuts ($8!) at Voodoo Donuts in Portland.  The donuts are great, but it was more about the “experience” of hanging in line and finally making it to the front.  This place is the niche-marketing poster child.  It’s so literally weird and funky you could never cut and paste its DNA somewhere else.

My current love-child niche is our CRAVE guides, featuring over 100 entreprenesses in multiple cities.   I wanted to celebrate women-owned businesses and encourage local communities to support them.  We have a very specific guideline when we curate our book and we stick with that.  Our goal is to be the go-to resource for each local community, to find and be inspired by the rock star women we feature.  A great joy is when someone reads our book and starts their own business because of the role models in their community.   We are not a guide for everyone, but in our niche we strive to make a difference.

Not trying to be something for everyone is something I think about a lot.  Honing down. Having a tightly focused target.  A 10% potential market is huge.  And it’s not about reinventing the wheel:  really good niches exist in the tried and true–Biringer shortcake, or in reinventing the tried and true–those cupcakes, donuts, or cups of coffee we stand in line for at Starbucks.

Take a look at some great examples of a niche business:
bellacupcakecouture.com
blowoutgirl.com
talksportytome.com
shishiputter.com
annesylvain.com
gothamorganizers.com
citytreehouse.com

Would love to hear what your niche is…

- Melody

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