Every market has gaps, and every gap is an opportunity for business. A gap is an area in the market that is not being served by businesses. Successful businesses are those who were able to identify a gap and seized the opportunity that came with it.
As a small business owner, one of your responsibilities is to find growth opportunities to keep your business relevant. Every gap you come across can spark a great business idea. Here are some tips to help you identify the gaps in your market and make the most of those opportunities.
The main goal of this type of exercise is to identify opportunities you can take advantage of. But how do you do that? The first thing you need to do is assess your strengths, both from the business and personal points of view. What is your business good at? And, what are you, as a business owner, good at or happy doing? Listing out your strengths is key to understanding what kind of opportunities suit you best.
When you start thinking of the market, it's best to think small and consider niche markets. Thinking too broadly will make it much harder to find gaps and target them effectively. If you've noticed someone has been successful at serving a certain gap in the independent insurance market, consider if it would be valuable to recreate that idea to serve another segment of the market.
All consumers have problems that need to be solved. When you're able to identify those problems and provide the right solution, you'll be serving a market gap that needed some TLC, and your products or services will basically "fly off the shelves."
Identifying market gaps when looking for new business opportunities is a great way to avoid putting time and effort into a market that has too much competition. Finding those opportunities is what will help your business stand out.