too much focus on tough niches

It seems, after reading in these forums for a week or so now, that alot of people are focusing on starting web sites in some pretty tough, competitive niches. Business 101 would tell you that to have a better chance at success, you should pick a niche where there is less competition. Why pick a market area where you have hundreds or thousands of competitors, many likely with more capital, resources and connections?

If you look at the small businesses today, many of the ones doing well are ones that provide a specific service or have a product nobody else has...or very few else have.

One of the drawbacks of tons of competition is that your ability to set higher prices is pretty much nil. The closer you get to a monopolistic scenerio where you're the king of your market, the more power you have to set pricing and control your destiny.

Thoughts on this?

David Beyer
bestsoftworks.com

 

I agree with you for the most part. I think what it really boils down to though is that people are just lazy and trying to make a quick buck. They read somewhere or stumble across some list that says mesothelioma links pay high, or whatever and they think they can do it too.
What they fail to realize most of the time is that if they are reading this list of top paying links, so are probably millions of others.

However, if you are able to offer something slightly better than the competition then you might be able to lure people to your site/ business. Real world examples that come to mind are coffee shops.
Harder to do online and many people don't understand basic marketing or business to begin with so they are really doomed from the start.

 

I agree. Learning more about basic concepts such as economics makes a big difference.

David

 

Maybe people just know more about niches they are familiar with which tend to be more competitive ones.

 

That's very likely.

 

As the majority of people on these forums are scared of failure and prefer to take the safer, practiced and proven route which is far more competitive.

 

I have started several business's and by far the only way some of them have survived is because I was the only one filling the niche. It's not smart to go up head to head with any other company..dosen't make since when you can find a little corner of the market that you can monopolize on. An example would be my first business I ever started. Everythingdormroom.com (its now out of business because I sold it and the guy who bought it ran it out of business...figures But anyway, I found a niche that there was very little competition and filled it (dorm room decorations) and made a lot of money doing it. There are plenty of niches out there..just keep your eyes open and you'll find one.

 

Business is tough enough without competition. Add strong competition to the mix and you better have some very good business/marketing skills, capital, a lot of luck, and a lot of willingness to work very long hours. I have put over 8 years into my business and it's only become my living for the last 2-3 years or so. I can see now that in past years, I made an aweful lot of mistakes in business. Most of the time, it was pure luck that I made money -- in the right place at the right time.

I still make mistakes about every day -- but that's a good thing. I am able to learn from them and improve next time and not repeat history.

I read recently in some credible sources that managers make a wrong decision about 50% of the time. What does that say about corporate america?

David Beyer