“Focusing solely on what you can do better than any other organization is the only path to greatness.” Jim Collins, Good to Great

Niche strategies create competitive advantages for small to medium-size businesses. They allow you to differentiate your company from potential competitors by demonstrating an expertise in particular product or service as well as an in-depth understanding of your clients’ unique needs and wants. To illustrate this point, just take a look at INC’s Fastest 5,000 growing companies in any year. You will notice the vast majority of these companies are focusing on a unique product, service or industry. Our coaching firm has also seen this firsthand as many of our clients qualify to be on INC’s 5,000 list.

While a niche strategy may make common sense, it is not the most common strategy used among small businesses. If you happen to be one of the few companies that have a solid niche strategy, you can skip this column and wait for some of my upcoming columns on people management. However, if you’re not using a niche strategy, this column will help you explore ways to refine or develop your competitive advantage. 

We start most of our coaching engagements by asking our clients to describe how their company is unique. The most common answers include:
Our company is unique because:

• We provide great customer service
• We deliver a high-quality product or service
• We have the best prices
• We win because of our relationships

1. Do we leverage our core strengths, and do our strengths provide a competitive advantage? (If we don’t have strengths that yield a competitive advantage, how can we develop competitive strengths?)
    
2. Do we focus on a niche market? (The niche market can be by industry, customer type, geography or a combination of all three.)
    
3. What problem or need can my company solve that is not currently being addressed in the market place?