Do you feel that narrowing down the amount of the total universe of possible customers is a bit counterintuitive to the idea of growing your business?

You're not alone.  In fact, many businesses (large and small) don't choose a target market or niche because:

• they fear they will have too few businesses to get as clients, and miss other opportunities to make money.
  
  
• they don't want to limit themselves to one type of customer, or one type of work, since they have varied interests, talents.  
  
  
• the process of choosing a target market takes a bit of work to define and profile, and requires them to make "tough" choices.

While these concerns are understandable, if you don't choose a target, you are leaving your business growth to chance by haphazardly going after nearly any business or industry that you think might need your service.

The long-term benefits of picking a niche are significant:

1. You'll save time, money and other resources.  A targeted strategy will help you know exactly where, when and how to market your services, making the best use of your limited resources. 
   
   
2. You'll get more referrals.  By choosing a smaller group of potential prospects, you have the chance to be the bigger fish in a smaller pond.  By being seen as an expert or authority for the services you provide, you can can become well-known in your niche.    This will become your best platform to generate referrals for new business.
   
   
3. You can charge more for your services.  By establishing yourself as an expert in the niche, you'll likely be able to charge more.  Business-to-business buyers prefer to work with specialist rather than generalists, and often expect to pay more.  Using a targeted approach will help you build in more profits to your business. 
   
   
4. You won't be limited to your specialty.   After becoming well-known for your expertise in one area, you will often be asked if you can perform services in other related in areas in which you have the credentials for as well.  The niche focus helps you first break into marketplace, attain a positive reputation, and then allows you to branch out more, if you want. 
   
   
5. You'll find your work more rewarding, and enjoy who you work with.  By picking a niche that best fits your passions, experience, and the type of people you like to work with, you're going to enjoy your work much more.