Your Three Greatest Fears About Niching
You are not Limiting Yourself
There is a lot of disruption going on in the BVFLS industry and you should give niching a fair shot if you have more of a generalist-type practice. In this article, Rod Bukert shares his views on how to overcome the fears of specialization.
There is a lot of disruption going on in our industry; from accounting/business valuation firm mergers to big data valuation solutions to finding qualified staff. Now is the time to either leave or dig your heels in. One way of doing the latter is by specializing in a niche and being so good at it that you cannot be ignored. But it’s hard to do that if you try to be everything to everyone. Why doesn’t our profession mobilize on a subject like this?
If you have followed me for any length of time, you know I often write about specializing in a practice area or industry niche. But rather than being tough about it, let’s just say I believe you need to give niching a fair shot if you have more of a generalist-type practice.
I’ve known, and coached, practitioners who struggle to get the attention of prospects. Most often it’s because the practitioner has no concrete area of expertise. And if a prospect doesn’t believe you can help them, they won’t hire you.
When I discuss niching with them, though, they pull back … like a turtle receding into its shell. Based on my conversations with many practitioners, here is a composite of the three most common reasons why they don’t niche, and why it’s time to get over them.
Fear #1: I Will Lose Opportunity
Many practitioners rightly believe that if they niche, they will lose opportunity. Yes, you read that correctly; I said: “rightly believe.”
Because when you pick a niche, 99% of the world will ignore you. But who cares. Because the 1% you go after will take notice. And you will have their full attention.
You might lose some opportunity in terms of potential engagements if you believe anyone and everyone will hire you. But you will gain an extraordinary amount of opportunity in the niche you end up choosing because so few people choose to niche. So, there will be less competition.
Fear #2: I Don’t Know Which Niche to Pick
Practitioners ask themselves, “How do I know the right niche to choose? I don’t want to commit myself, change my entire business model, and later find out I made a mistake.”
I get it … sort of. Finding the perfect fit can take time. But how long have you been at it? And if you’ve been in this business for any length of time and have participated in a variety of projects, you should know the kind of work you like doing and the clients you enjoy serving.
Second, there’s no need to change your entire business model. When you first test your new market for fit, only niche your marketing. Just because your marketing says you do X doesn’t mean you can’t do Y if the opportunity presents itself.
Fear #3: I Will Get Bored Doing the Same Kind of Work
Practitioners are scared that niching will put an end to the variety of their valuation projects and their practices will become boring and monotonous.
The truth is, if you have a niche, you’ll go super deep into it and end up learning everything there is to know about it. So, what you give up in width, you gain in depth. This gives you an incredible amount of capability! Think about a practitioner who specializes in veterinary practices and can do a business valuation for any purpose in that niche.
Also, think about the tremendous impact your work can have on/for the clients in your niche. Because you will know the niche better than anyone else, you will bring more value to the table than anyone else.
So What!
When I started doing this work in the mid-1990s, the entire field of BV was considered a specialty; niching within BV wasn’t a thing. Times are changing; circumstances dictate that we change.
I am re-reading Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, and I came across this quote about fear: “People with a low tolerance for risk, whose behavior is guided by fear, have a low propensity for success.”
In Real Life
Several of my friends and colleagues believe I should branch out to accountants and attorneys since what I coach my BVFLS clients on is applicable to most professional service providers. In fact, it is. But I would be so uncomfortable pretending to know what is going on in the accounting and law worlds. It wouldn’t be easy money and it would take a lot of time to get up to speed; time that would be better spent going narrower and deeper in the BVFLS world.
There are BVFLS professionals who specialize in a niche and are successful. One might argue they are successful because they have a niche. You know them. So you know it can be done.
I help BVFLS professionals turn the practices they have into the practices they want—by focusing on strategies and tactics to help them better market, sell, and deliver their services—with an assist from AI. If you want some help with that, e-mail me at rod@rodburkert.com.
