The Four Key Reasons Why An Optometrist Should Consider Becoming a Nichepreneur

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart was famously quoted as ” if everybody else is doing it one way you can find your niche by going in exactly the opposite direction”. This expression says it all about how Walmart grew to be the successful business we know and how for a long period of time its owners were the top five richest people on the planet. Susan Friedmann, author of “Niches To Riches: How to Make It BIG in a Small Market,” describes how she shifted from being an entrepreneur to becoming a nichepreneur to solve her repetitive problem of failing by being a general provider. After many ups and downs, she realized that specializing solves many problems that cannot be solved when you try to be everything to everyone. In her book, she explains four reasons why an entrepreneur should consider becoming a nichepreneur. The four benefits of becoming nichepreneur are:

Fewer Competitors: this may sound counter-intuitive however if you look at it from the perspective that when there is a trend or a big opportunity everyone rushes to get the biggest part of it, you realize that while others are busy fighting for their part you find your niche elsewhere in an area less attractive to the majority;

Ability to be more efficient: the first thing that explains efficiency in a niche is the cost of doing business. Imagine you minimize your inventory to one product. You won’t have to worry about managing huge inventories of tens of products that have significantly different turnover rates,.

Become more profitable: Again minimizing your inventory to one product increases profitability. You will impose tremendous bargaining power on suppliers of this product when you are able to purchase tons of it. Whereas, when you have to order small quantities of different products you will have much less bargaining power. Moreover, you will put more effort and spend much more time providing each patient with different products and services.

Increased visibility: When a customer is looking for a certain service of product that many practitioners provide in your are, your visibility is reduced. Whereas, when you are the only one to provide this service or product, you will always be visible and relevant to everyone whenever they ask for it.