Starting an Online Business All-in-One For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 1

Discovering Niche Markets

IN THIS CHAPTER

Narrowing your product focus

Figuring out which niche market has your name on it

When you start an online business, the Internet offers plenty of untapped markets for you to explore. These markets are segments within existing industries that have a lot of potential because they haven’t yet become saturated by sellers. You can certainly find this potential in niche markets, which are smaller, more defined segments of an existing market. In this chapter, we provide a few basic guidelines for working with a niche product and also show you how you can access these niche markets and sell to their loyal customers.

Deciding to Sell a Niche Product

When thinking about a niche market, imagine the market in terms of a pie. The whole pie represents an entire market — one that’s usually well established. But cut out one piece of that pie, and that piece becomes a smaller market on its own. Instead of concentrating on selling the entire pie, you narrow your focus to that single slice.

The pet industry serves as a real-world example. More than 65 percent of U.S. homes own a pet — that’s more than 69 million homes with at least one pet. As you might imagine, that number adds up to a lot of potential when it comes to pet-related expenditures. ...