this post was submitted on 13 Nov 2023
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Don't try to find some new thing. Find a successful product or service in a lucrative niche that you can do the same or better.
Yes. This.
What would you call a lucrative niche?
Crab Boat Fleet Management SaaS
Like roofing. Build a business that’s built on quality of service and it’s a lucrative niche within the construction space.
Not trying to boil the ocean, just install a roof.
A high barrier-to-entry niche in a proven industry, which is more likely to have few competitors. If they're doing really well, they can get lazy, not adapt to the latest technologies (they don't have to because they're already making good money), and let customer service lapse (customers have few other choices). That is a lucrative niche because the market is proven, there's enough money being made to support the competitors, and there are clear things you can do to provide a better product or service.
That's exactly what I found with an expensive product used at my job in an aviation niche. It was expensive, poorly designed and made, had just a handful of providers worldwide, and they were all making good money ($100M market). I eventually got about 5% of the market so I didn't make billions, but I made millions.
I think existing, proven businesses that "only" might make you millions is a better and more straightforward path than trying to find some new billion dollar idea that has little chance of success.
This strategy is good but often can be rather hard and expensive because of the mentioned high barrier to entry? You need to be very good at attracting funds, talking to partners and investors and things like that, I guess?
I think it's easiest to work in an industry and niche you're interested in, get paid to learn everything about it, then branch out on your own within that niche. The barrier to entry is the domain knowledge, not startup funds necessarily.
Only if the segment is not saturated. Good luck finding a niche.
High barrier to entry niches especially in the B2B world are starving for competition. Everybody for some reasons thinks low barrier to entry consumer market ideas when they think entrepreneurship. The real money is elsewhere.
Could you give me an example, I’m curious!
Yeah, but that's not what you wrote.
And high barriers to entry means exactly that - high barriers to entry. I suppose I could start a nuclear power plant for $10 billion. High barriers to entry - I'll have it made when I bring that power plant on like in 20 years.
Barriers to entry include:
Economies of Scale
Capital Requirements
Brand Loyalty and Reputation
Patents and Intellectual Property
Regulatory Barriers
Access to Distribution Channels
Switching Costs
Network Effects
Experience and Expertise
Government Barriers and Licensing
Access to Resources
Cost Advantages
Predatory Pricing
Brand Advertising and Marketing
Cultural and Social Barriers
Supply Chain Control
Government Subsidies or Support
Exclusive Contracts
Customer Loyalty Programs
Barriers to Exit
Time and Learning Curve
Environmental and Sustainability Standards
Crisis Resilience
etc
.
Which of those barriers should I select when starting a new company and have no money, no brand to give loyalty to, no patents, no regulatory barriers, etc.
I got fuck-all of any of those things above.
I'm curious as to your response.
Over simplified and easier said than done. More people would be doing what's easy, that's just the way it is. There's very little out there that's assumed hard but it easier than thought, waiting to be filled.