Don’t get lost in the crowd… Find your niche and tribe!
It’s time to get your business journal out again! Here is another exercise that will help you clarify who your ideal clients are and how you can be of service through your wellness business. Here are 5 main reflection questions that you can start exploring today!
5 REFLECTION QUESTIONS TO ASK:
What have I learned on my journey that I can now pass on to others in the same situation?
Ley’s start with your own journey and experiences. The majority of people who start a health business have a personal story about why they are choosing to start their business.
Examples from 2 clients who are health coaches specialising and qualified in nutrition: The first health coach struggled with his weight for many years and through learning about nutrition and qualifying in this, he now works with men who want to lose weight. The second health coach was looking to improve her vegan diet and felt that she was lacking in nutrients so she learned and explored how to eat a healthy vegan diet and studied nutrition with this in mind – She now works with people who are transitioning to a vegan diet and want to make sure they start with good information and eating habits.
Take a moment to think about and explore what area of health you have struggled with or wanted to learn more about. What were you experiencing and what did you learn? One of the most powerful ways to share your knowledge with your own clients is to be able to draw inspiration from your own personal journey. Wherever you are on your own health journey, you can potentially make this part of your niche.
Who do I enjoy connecting with?
The key point is – Are YOU interested in and inspired by them? There is no point working with groups of people who you don’t enjoy interacting with. You will be spending a lot of time and energy with them. And as you grow your niche, you will be exploring more of the themes and topics that your niche will be interested in. If are not inspired by them, it will show and you will feel it… maybe not in the beginning but over time you might become uninspired by your work.
Think about who you naturally connect with in your life. This is a good way to start… By thinking about the communities that you are part of and the people you naturally enjoy spending the most time with. Most of the time, this will also be tied up with the previous point.
You may already be part of the community which you can also explore as your niche – This has an advantage because you will be aware of the topics, themes and needs that can be addressed in your business and services.
Examples: A new yoga teacher naturally enjoy spending time connecting with people from the LGBTQ+ community which she is proudly part of – Her yoga classes and niche are now geared towards providing safe spaces to explore yoga and expression for this community. A therapist is part of the BIPOC community and now he works alongside organisations that offer mental health services and therapies to this community. A health coach is a new mom who loves spending time in her mother’s group – She now works with new moms in keeping healthy through her services and coaching packages.
Maybe you are inspired to work with a group of people who may not be part of your community or from your personal life experiences – This is also a good possibility. In this case, it is important to explore what they are experiencing in their life – What are their main problem areas to which you can offer your services? What is their daily lifestyle like? What can you offer from your own experiences that will inspire them?
Am I working with a profitable niche?
The truth is that not all niches are going to be good for making your health business profitable. This may sound harsh but as a business owner, this is a reality to think about. If you are working with a niche that cannot pay for your services and courses, then is it going to be a profitable business for you to earn enough to live?
Money mindset matters. The majority of health and wellness entrepreneurs want to genuinely help others… But we also have to find the balance in creating a sustainable business that will help us with our bills, the day-to-day expenses and give us the energy to live the life we want. After all, money is a form of energy exchange and a money block that many health and wellness entrepreneurs experience is not valuing their work fully. Having a business is different from having a side hustle or a hobby. For too long, I have seen this belief that we cannot make money from what we offer or that there are some trauma/issues that stop us due to believing that our acts of service to the world are not for making money. If you are able to grow a profitable business and thrive, then you can go and help others who may not be able to afford your services – and we pass that energy on.
An example: If you are working with university students as your main niche, your prices will most likely be lower. Many university students are already paying a high fee just to go to university + student accommodation, food etc so they may not have the extra funds to spend on additional areas, like your health business.
There are other ways to help these niches – You could approach organizations that help people in the niche that you are interested in. From the above example: If you wanted to work with university students, instead of working directly with them, you could approach the university and its student organizations to see how you can offer your paid services. This could be something you offer IN ADDITION to your main profitable niche – So it would not be the main niche that you work with. I am a believer in keeping things open – you never know how things can evolve… Sometimes what may start as a part-time low profitable niche can also bring you a good income when you work as a business alongside bigger organizations.
Is my location suited for my niche?
This can be a physical location and/or your online location spots where you market your business. Think about where your niche spends most of their time. If it is to set up a physical business space (like a therapy office or yoga class), where would you easily find your niche in their usual daily life? If you are setting up an online business (like an online health coaching business), where would your potential clients be online (social media, Facebook groups, podcasts, forums etc)?
An example: If you are a therapist and your niche is busy office workers who struggle with stress, then setting up a therapy practice in a part of your city/town with office workers makes sense.
It’s all about really knowing your ideal client – This also includes where they usually spend their time in. This is going to be the place where you can market and set-up your business so that they can easily find you. If you appear in convenient spaces for them (physically or online), there is more of a chance that you are able to interact with them. It is also an opportunity to get to know them more – with what they struggle with, how you can help them, and what can you offer to overcome any health issues they face.
Is this an area that will allow me to evolve and grow?
If you master one niche, you can often find your Self branching into similar niches that complement the first. This is something that normally happens after some time and experience in one niche. To avoid complicating this, always have a main niche to work with.
An example: A stress management consultant works with stressed therapists as the main niche. Over time, there is the possibility to specialize in studying/qualifying and offering classes and online courses in meditation techniques that therapists can use as Self-care.
Sometimes the people we enjoy working with can change over time. As we grow, we may also feel that the niche we have chosen does not inspire us anymore – There is nothing wrong with this. Nothing is lost… it is about taking whatever experiences you have (whether you are new or already running a business) and building it to another level where you can evolve your work. Sometimes, you don’t have to completely re-brand or release your current clients.
Another example: A woman’s health coach started by working with other women on their fertility – she started as a fertility health coach. In time, she did not feel inspired to work with women at this stage in their life as she was now exploring menopause and her own journey through it. She decided to take all the knowledge she already knew and focus on the topics of perimenopause and menopause. In time, the same clients that came to her for fertility health coaching were now interested in this stage in their life and how to navigate it.
If you choose a niche to work with, can you also think about how it potentially could expand or evolve? Think about your own inspiration and what would give you the space to grow and keep you inspired. After all, your business should be a space that you enjoy and love learning and growing with. This also includes the people that you connect with along the way!
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