Birthing and nurturing a business is hard work, and most entrepreneurs stumble and fall along the journey. We learn from our own mistakes as well as others. That’s why we surround ourselves with entrepreneurial colleagues, mentors, and coaches. As entrepreneurs our reasons for building our own businesses are varied, yet much the same. Most of us have a passion for what we do, we are like fish out of water in a corporate environment and we’re risk takers.

My content writing business was born out of my love for writing, a fascination with entrepreneurs, and a desire to lean more about their success. Along the way I have made some truly amazing connections with people of talent, creativity, passion, philanthropy, energy and discipline. Every day has been filled with new encounters and events that I want to hold onto. I built this metaphorically large box to contain all the people, experiences, learning opportunities, and big dreams that have come into my life in the last two years. Well, that box got too big for me to hold and manage, and because of that I couldn’t manage growth either.

A natural inclination when starting a business is to get customers, as many as possible from as many places we can. It is not unusual for an entrepreneur to feel they can’t afford to narrow their audience because they may miss out on a client. I’m here to tell you that you can’t afford not to. If you are selling bubblegum flavored popsicles you likely won’t sell any popsicles to people that don’t care for bubblegum flavor. So, you decide maybe you should also sell cherry, orange, vanilla, licorice, banana, and on and on….

This creates a problem for your marketing because you must create content that speaks to people who love all these different flavors. Your message to a bubblegum lover is not going to resonate the same to a banana lover, and definitely not to a licorice fan. But if you nail it with your message to the bubblegum lover your niche is now zeroing in on your market and bubblegum lovers everywhere will stand up and take notice.

Would your rather have a database of 1000 random flavor popsicle lovers or 100 die hard bubblegum addicts? Yep, the 100 will convert to much higher gross sales. These are the customers that will stay with you and help you grow. They are your foundation, and that will serve you well as your business goes to the next level. That level might be bubblegum mints, bubblegum taffy; you can be the bubblegum flavor Queen and develop your following by introducing one new bubblegum flavored product one at a time and hooking that flavor raver with each new launch.

The best way to define your niche is to look within yourself and find your zone of genius. Where is your excellence, and how do you best serve your customers? Here is some imagery to see where I am going with this. Take a funnel and put all the things you do in your industry into the top of the funnel, the next level filters out the things you do but you could delegate or outsource without effecting what you offer as your expertise. Each level of the funnel continues to filter out the things you do that you do well and fit into your business but are not the critical talents, heartfelt passion, or the reason you get up and go to work every morning. This is the place where you define your specialty.

As an example; I am a content writer, we all know that content writing fills a real need for growing businesses. But if I respond at a networking meeting that I am a content writer. My conversation partner will start darting her eyes around the room looking for the prize in the room. Become a specialist! Become the prize in the room! So, instead of a Content Writer, I am a Breakthrough Content Writer. I specialize in crafting unique and powerful messages for business leaders who have gone through breakthrough moments in their career i.e. individuals who have had to move past challenging barriers, in their life or careers, to get to where they are. So, when I lead with my specialty, I’m much more likely to get the question, “Really, what exactly is that?” Magic happens when you ignite the conversation. Think creatively, instead of being a Life Coach maybe you are a Spiritual Energy Coach, or a Vivacity Coach, possibly a Life Gratitude Coach. Think about what your real mission is, and you’ll be able to define your specialty.

Sometimes it is necessary to let your business grow legs to follow opportunities but focus and develop the strongest of those legs and cut the other ones off. The spirit of entrepreneurs embraces flexibility and quick responses to opportunities. This does not mean you move and dodge like a football player trying to break the tackle. It means you can transform, rebrand, and make precision decisions as you see your business taking a certain direction. But once you make a move and claim your niche you need to go 100% all in with it.

Here is the takeaway; define your business, give clarity to what you do, who you serve, and how you help others through your business. If you don’t have a business coach on board, I highly recommend that. They will see the hard stuff you don’t want to recognize, help you let go of the things you need to eliminate and embrace what you need to build and develop. Find your niche, nurture and embrace it, and watch yourself grow rich.