Happy Halloween! Can you imagine exploring this Shining-esque hotel for spooks and spirits?!
This happens to be the Red Rock Inn in Ontario, Canada. We stayed here recently while on our Lake Superior Circle Tour and the local landmark was everything that excites us—historic architecture, eclectic decor, and friendly owners with fascinating stories. On top of that, our room was spotlessly clean and cozy.
Here’s the thing, not everyone would share our opinion. Not everyone is comfortable with the unpredictability of non-chain hotels. Not everyone is enamored with history. Not everyone has a desire to meander off the beaten path. And that’s okay because there’s something out there for each of us.
What it does say to business owners—small business owners especially—is that you can’t be all things to all people. You need to have a niche. You need to target a specific audience. And both have to match who you are as a business.
5 Hints for Choosing Your Niche and Target Market
This article by Entrepreneur magazine is spot on. However, I’m going to reword it based on my own opinion, which is based on my own experience. Take it or leave it.
- Identify Your Passion and Skills
Choosing a niche within your passion and skillset makes work more enjoyable. You’ll have greater credibility, communication, and problem-solving.
- Like Your Target Market
Your target market are people you work with every day. Make sure you enjoy them and their demographics.
- Research Your Competition
Knowing your competition helps you brainstorm ways to be unique. It also reveals the profitability of a market—no competition equals no profit.
- Determine Profitability
You have to make a living. If your niche or target market have no profit, expand one or the other, or both.
- Be Flexible
Remember the Pandemic Pivot? When innovative change was necessary for survival? Always practice that open-minded living.
What I’m Working On This Month
Each year I design a poster to commemorate our Octoberfest Brewery Tour. It’s good exercise for my creative brain and I’m accumulating quite the collection!
What I’m Tuned In To This Month
- Politics of School Food: My granddaughter’s school served pizza every day in September (thankfully, she packs her own lunch).
- Must-reads from Milkweed Editions. Earlier this month we celebrated Indigenous Peoples Day. Here’s a list of Native authors.
- How Fermented Foods Shaped the World, a new book by Julia Skinner. Food history is fascinating.
- The Barred Owl Who Came To Visit, beautifully told by Heather Swan. God sends us what we need.