Have you seen Nissan’s latest car?
It’s called the X-TRAIL 4DOG – designed specifically for dog owners.
It’s a stroke of genius.
I mean, I’m a cat person. I have no dog. But this car is so cool, it makes me want one.
See, it’s not a token dog model. They haven’t just tossed a smelly old blanket in the boot and slapped on a bumper sticker saying “Honk if you do it doggy style!”
No, this is full-on customised.
A padded mutt-size boot, with a built-in dryer for those soggy doggy walks. A non-spill water bowl. Treat Dispenser. Even a two-way video link, so you and Rover can watch each other while you drive.
Oh yeah – and a pull-out ramp, so older dogs can still get out and about.
As the kids don’t say, it’s amazeballs.
And a blindingly obvious message to every business owner.
What?
This. Everyone talks about niches, and quotes the Gary Halbert principle, “Find your starving crowd” – meaning, that big segment of your market with one specific burning problem that no-one else is solving.
Everyone bangs on about it. But everyone says “Yeah but every niche is covered now”.
Then Nissan whip this out of the bag.
Gigantic niche.
As long as they market this well…and quickly…they’re gonna make squillions.
Because they’ve tapped into the next ‘wave’ of niching:
Adapting mass market products for the wants / needs of one segment.
Think about that.
How could your product (or service) jump on the idea?
Take housing. Instead of building homes by broad demographic (young families, professional couples), how about homes for healthy living?
As in, if a fitness nut could build their own home, what would it look like?
…A garden with space for growing veg, plus an outdoor games area.
…A gym room, built to the buyer’s spec.
…A study with space for a walking desk.
…A garage with cycle storage.
…An ergonomic kitchen, with dedicated space for healthy gizmos like juicers and smoothie makers.
You get the idea.
And it’s easy to get started. There are clues in your order books – see what your best customers have in common. A job, a business type, a hobby, a lifestyle, a health problem….whatever.
Find the common trait, and ask: how you can adapt your product or service, just for them?
Then rent mailing lists, or fiddle about with Facebook Ads, to expand the niche.
Lemon squeezy.
Yeah, it’ll take some work. But nothing good lands in your lap.
And it could lead you to big fat profits…
Something to chew on.