Let's say I know a particular niche I think will be extremely on demand in the future and I want to venture into that niche as the first pioneer. Is there anything I can do other than trademarks, and patents to safeguard against competitions who enter a little later when the niche is starting to pick up steam?
Not really. The best thing is to be first to market. Jump right in, don't wait. Timing is really important. If you get in quickly, establish your company as the leader, all others have to play catch-up. With the correct amount of money and execution, you can quickly grab a large chunk of market share. The biggest block to dominating market share is being under-capitalized.
Thank you for your responses. "Market Share," a phrase I keep hearing from a lot of experienced business, however, I'm yet to fully grasp its actual practical meaning. I know it has something to do with the money within a particular niche, such as Apple owning the majority of market share in the phone business for example. I don't have a tangible understanding of how you exactly measure it. Is it sales, general public opinion, and how would it apply to a niche that has not yet been tapped. In that case, how would you know if you have the majority of the market share if it is yet to be fully monetized. Sorry if that a lot of questions, I'm just following my train of thought.
Very complex topic and it depends on what area of business you are talking about. The term "niche" can mean a lot of different things to different people. Is it an invention of a physical product or a software program or a new workout program? The legal basis of protecting yourself varies depending on what type of business/product/niche it actually is. Best to start with a fair amount of legal reading to get started and then get an attorney involved for specific answers.
Thank you I'll read up on that. Its a new business model and a new angle on an online niche that doesn't have a lot of competition and most of the businesses in the niche have a very limited scope primarily focusing on people directly interested in the niche. They also are not very good at marketing the niche. I've done this before but with a different niche. Some other guys copied my marketing techniques and was better at website creation so I was eventually drowned out. This time I'm planning on doing the same things with a different niche, but I plan on not being drowned out by competition when it starts gaining steam so that I could eventually form a brand around it.
Get out there now and start creating epic content and building up a community so that when it finally kicks off and other marketers start getting involved you're already ahead of the game. If you're one of the few in the niche make sure you are the absolute authority so that people refer and link to you when talking about the niche.