A Quick Self-Assessment Tool to Grow Your Business!

July 11, 2010

I read a great article on Biznik this week by Kaya Singer, a Business Coach in Eugene, Oregon. It’s about one of my favorite marketing topics – Target Market – and it’s entitled, “Now that you have a niche, how do you grow your business from this place?” In the article she offers a niche-assessment tool that is extremely helpful for growing any business.

Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes with me knows I’m a fanatic about identifying a target market for your business. I probably told you, “You simply can’t be all things to all people- or at least you can’t do all things for all people well. You need a target market!!!” In my blog, “Anyone Who is NOT a Target Market” I wrote about how much this concept scares most small business owners. When I say, “target market” they hear, “There are a zillion potential customers out there she’s telling me to ignore… this woman is crazy!” The fact is whether you know it or not, and whether you choose to believe it or not, your business serves a niche, one tiny little segment of the market, better than any other. And you, your business and your customers will be better served if you recognize and focus on it.

I love Kaya’s article because she clearly understands the challenge of trying to help small business owners understand the importance of defining a target market. I felt an immediate kinship; I know her ears have ached from the same fearful cries of the “my- target-market-is-Anyone-Who-“small business owner. I immediately recognized a sister, comrade and fellow marketing crusader, on the same journey to save the planet one small business at a time.

But alas- my fellow marketing crusader and compatriot has a solution! (A brilliant one by the way, and I’m quite PO’d I think of it myself!).

So check this out, Kaya developed a really quick 3 minute “niche assessment” that you can take to determine whether you’ve whittled down your target market enough or need t go back to the drawing board and do some more whittling. I encourage you to check out her article, take the assessment and use it to make sure you really do have a target market.

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