The best niches for business. How to find a free niche to start a business


Sooner or later, a person faces the question: continue to work "for an uncle" or try his hand at his own business. Independent business means personal and financial independence, realization of ambitions, status. But at the same time, these are increased risks and full responsibility for the final result. The success of future entrepreneurship is largely determined by the correct choice of a business niche, which we will discuss in this article.

1. Decide on a business direction

Choosing a direction for future activity is the most important step for a novice businessman. No need to rush headlong into the first (albeit popular) idea that comes across. It is necessary to soberly assess not only the prospects of the direction, but also your own opportunities for entering the chosen sphere and developing in it. It is desirable that the niche meets at least one (and ideally all) criteria:

  • The chosen direction should be pleasant. A business that you do with pleasure is more pleasant and easier to develop. Many businessmen called themselves happy just because they turned a hobby into a business. As a result, you receive both moral and material rewards.
  • You need to have competence in the chosen direction. Even if your niche profile is quite competitive, good professional knowledge and skills should help you take your market share.
  • The offered services and goods must be in demand. The well-known formula from classical economics “demand creates supply” is relevant at all times. Of course, there are high-risk areas in which venture companies bring fundamentally new products to the market: in fact, the reverse formula works - the manufacturer creates demand with the help of a completely new product or service. But this option is more suitable as an additional one in the presence of an existing effective business. At the initial stage, the risks must be justified.

2. We evaluate the prospects

It's good when you have a clear idea of ​​what you want to do and how to go about it. But most often, when choosing a niche for a business, throwing between different options begins. Therefore, it is better to make a short list of ideas that, in your opinion, will “shoot” in your execution. With this list in place, you can begin to evaluate each idea more carefully in terms of opportunities and threats.

First of all, you need to understand two things:

  • Who is your consumer in each potential niche.
  • What are the prospects for each direction.

You need to clearly understand what customer needs your business will cover. Potential consumers are money, and they need to be evaluated using various mechanisms: surveys of acquaintances, thematic forums, groups on social networks, expert opinions. It is necessary to draw up portraits of consumers for each chosen niche.

The chosen area should have development prospects. It makes no sense to invest in a direction that, although it is in demand now, has a tendency to "collapse" in the near future.

3. Weigh our options

The entry threshold is different everywhere, and this is influenced by various objective and subjective factors. When evaluating each promising niche, these factors should be taken into account, even those that at first glance may seem insignificant:

  • Competition. You need to understand who your competitors are and what advantages you will give to potential customers. If the offer in a niche is excessive, and you are not ready to offer competitive advantages, then even knowledge and desire will not help you gain any significant position in the market.
  • your potential. It is about internal and external potential. Evaluate not only your personal capabilities, but also the capabilities of your environment. A childhood friend can become the first supplier of components, a wife's girlfriend can become a target audience and at the same time word of mouth advertising, an influential acquaintance can become a lobbyist of interests in the chosen market.
  • Start-up capital. It is important to understand the source of funding for starting a business. And if for the service sector this will not be the most significant amount, then for the manufacturing sector it is quite decent. It’s good if you have enough of your own funds, but will you be ready to donate someone else’s or borrowed money?

Careful study of all factors for each chosen niche will help to gradate and compile your personal rating of business ideas. And then it remains only not to be afraid to take the first step.

4. We count correctly

Drawing up a preliminary business plan for each idea is a rather laborious, but necessary step. It is important to understand that "the game is worth the candle" because the ultimate goal of any business is to make a profit. Doing business for the sake of the process itself is wrong and will eventually lead to financial ruin.


It is the insufficient depth of immersion and excessive optimism in the calculations at the initial stage that is the main reason for the unprofitability and bankruptcy of most novice businessmen. When calculating, you need to focus on a pessimistic forecast. Even a seemingly promising direction with many unmet customer needs is far from a guarantee of a flow of consumers in the early stages of business development. The path from a potential client to a real one is quite long, and you need to be ready to go through it “in the red”.

When drawing up a preliminary business plan, you need to calculate:

  • One-time expenses at the very beginning. This may be the purchase of the necessary equipment and tools, the cost of registering an individual entrepreneur or legal entity, buying a franchise, licensing, etc. These costs are one-time and make up the bulk of the start-up costs.
  • Current or monthly expenses. This includes rent of premises, salaries of employees, utility bills, bank services, tax deductions, purchase of components and other costs. You need to look at what you can save on at the beginning, and certain types of work (accounting, website maintenance) can be outsourced. At the same time, you need to have a “margin of safety” for at least three months, and preferably for six months, i.e. be prepared to finance current costs out of your own pocket.
  • Income plan or revenue. This is exactly the calculation for which optimism is the main enemy. Estimate revenue prospects based on the lower bound to be ready for reality.
  • Supply plan. This is not an actual problem for the service sector, but an important one for production. The production process must be provided with materials and components evenly and constantly.

A preliminary business plan is different from a full-fledged one, but it is quite enough to assess the possibility of entering the chosen business niche.

5. Making the final choice

After going through the previous 4 steps, you will see a more or less clear picture for each business idea. You have preliminary calculations, an assessment of each direction and an understanding of what needs to be done. After weighing the prospects of each idea according to the proposed methodology, at the end you will get a very real niche for your own business.

Be prepared for difficulties in the early stages and be patient: the return on investment is not a matter of one month. But the prospects that open up are worth it to start your own business.

Everyone who wants to open a company must look for a market, a niche. A niche in business is that small area that has the potential to generate income and, by mastering which, you can build a company. A niche can be large or small. Usually, when talking about niches, they mean a small sales market. But you should look for niches that have the potential to grow into a medium-sized business.

When developing niche ideas, you should pay attention to a whole range of factors. The success of a niche depends on these factors. The easiest way to measure whether a niche will be profitable is to see how many copies of a product (product, service) can be sold and at what price. There are niches where you cannot sell a lot of product, but the price of the product can be very high and thus the niche becomes attractive. Below we will look at 5 principles for choosing a niche.

1. See the market.
Seeing a potential market, a niche is a constant challenge for entrepreneurs who want to start a new business. For some, it does not matter what exactly to produce or sell - bicycles and board games or tractors. It is important for other people to love the product - what they sell. These are usually the majority. That is why you should choose a business niche not only on the principle that it is potentially profitable, but also because you like it.

Usually, professionals in some field have the skills necessary to create some things, do some work. These skills, in the future, can be used to open your own business. Professionals in some field have a number of advantages - they see niches in their professional field and are able to recognize those areas where improvement is needed. In addition, such people usually have all the necessary skills and resources to start a business, often without investment or. And even if considerable investments are required, they can immediately figure out who can become an investor.

If you are a professional in a certain field and you like doing your own thing, then you may want to consider finding a niche in the field where you are most competent. Today, most people start companies not for money, but rather to do things the way they like.

So, it is important to see the market. It’s even better to have several ideas in stock at once, and from the same area. One will not shoot - you can start trying another. Having in stock several ideas from one area at once, you insure the risks of an entrepreneur. For example, it will be much easier for you to make a successful business in the field of agriculture if you have worked in this field and you have about 5-7 ideas for what could be improved. In this case, success will be much closer to you - you have experience in this niche, you see what can be improved, you start doing a project and - even if you have difficulties with this first business - you can still start another company, only with a different idea, in the same niche.

Today, builders, pharmacists, seamstresses can start their own small companies, seeing what needs are in the area where they are employed. If everything is calculated correctly, the process is set up correctly, then you can seriously compete with those companies that are old-timers in the market.

2. Describe the target audience. Let's say you've identified a niche in your business. Now you are starting the most interesting stage - testing your idea for viability. The viability of an idea is tested only in practice, in other words, it cannot be said for sure that an idea will 100% succeed or fail. There are certain rules that help reduce risks, but you can be 100% sure that you have chosen the right niche only in practice.

That is why it is worth starting the production of prototypes or just selling the product as soon as possible - to understand whether it is worth pursuing the product further or whether you need to go in search of other ideas. But initially, it is important for us to understand who our target audience is - customers on whom we will test the business. Since we need customers to build a company, we should look for them. But in order to look for them, we need to understand who exactly to look for.

So, you need to be clear about who the person who will buy your product is. Describe the person's age, gender, income, preferences, the person's surroundings, places where he goes - you will get a picture drawn by your imagination and some facts on the basis of which you build guesses. Find 15-20 people who fit your profile. Then offer them your product. If the product “does not work”, you will be able to determine why: either no one needs your product at all, or you have incorrectly identified your target audience.

3. How much money is there in the niche? Repeat sales model. In case you correctly identified your target audience, you should calculate how much money is there in the niche? It may happen that the niche is very small, almost nothing can be earned on it. How much money are people willing to spend on your product? Will they come back for him again?

With food, cosmetics and all products in the FMCG category, it's easy - if the buyer likes it, he will come back again. Much more difficult with other products. Especially when it comes to innovation, products that are difficult to sell. In this case, maybe you should not get involved in creating a business in this area at all.

4. Deal cycles. The transaction cycle is the period of time that passes from the receipt of a client's application to the receipt of money in your account. The shorter the deal cycle, the better for the entrepreneur. If a person comes to the store, then the transaction cycle is several minutes - from taking the goods from the shelf (or on the website of the online store) to payment. If you are involved in specific building structures, then the transaction cycle will stretch for weeks or even months.

The margin may be large, but all the time while you are negotiating, preparing information for the client, you are forced to pay bills, salaries to employees, and so on. Do you have enough resources and endurance to build such a business? When in doubt, it is best not to take on projects where the transaction cycle is several weeks or even months.

5. What should be liked and disliked in business. We come to a very important point that matters for the project - will your business in the chosen niche be successful? Ultimately, success or failure largely depends on the individual's personal involvement in the project. In any business for which investors give money, it is important that the initiator has a strong interest in the project.

Without participation, without a great desire to build a company, nothing will happen, no matter how hard you try. Personal attitude is of the utmost importance. It all has to do, to a large extent, with what you like to do and what you don't. It is probably difficult for most people to compile accounting reports and submit documents to the tax office, fill the site with goods and do many other routine things.

Today it is not a problem to outsource everything that you do not like to do. But, it is important to understand what you like to do, and is it possible to build a company on the basis of this? The entrepreneur is required to participate in product development, marketing and sales. Are you ready for this? Will you experience the pleasure of selling the product?

Some say they don't care what kind of business they do or what they sell. We leave this approach to your discretion, but still the personality of an entrepreneur, love for your business, the product that you make, is often much more important than the willingness to do any business, as long as it is a business and that it generates income.

Usually an entrepreneur finds a niche in the area that excites him. A pregnant woman could not find inexpensive clothes of proper quality and design for herself and created her own maternity goods store. Someone faced problems with admitting children to kindergarten. Someone is annoyed by queues in supermarkets, and this leads to the idea of ​​​​alternative food stores.

A bicycle lover cannot quickly find a suitable model. Somebody's feet hurt from walking in heels all day long, and the idea of ​​comfortable dress shoes and so on is born. Usually the sphere of solving common problems that millions of people face every day is what it is like to find the perfect business niche. Usually the greatest success is brought by those ideas that are not out of touch with life (). And those who built a company on the basis of an idea are usually people who themselves felt discomfort from some unresolved problems and wanted to solve them, first of all, for themselves.

Finding a niche to start a business is both simple and complex.

This may be related to your professional qualities and skills, as we described at the beginning. It may be something from the field of solving problems that you yourself face on a daily basis. In any case, stock up on a list of several ideas and start working on them from the very first idea. If the experiment doesn't work, you can move on to the next step until you finally find something that you're really interested in doing and that makes money.

Online business is an attractive opportunity. No need to think about renting and purchasing equipment, there is no need to be physically present in the office. But at the beginning of the journey you have to choosing a niche for online business e. We will tell you how not to make a mistake with this choice.

The target audience

Before you start choosing a niche for an online business, you need to determine for whom exactly you are creating a project, because the same niche will “sound” differently for different age and social groups of people.

One of the most popular niches on the internet is teaching English. There are a lot of offers, but demand still exceeds supply. Of course, you can immediately create a massive online school where tens of thousands of people study, such as SkyEng, but this is not easy. Investments and breakthrough business ideas are required. But, if you plan to start without investments and at first expect a profit from 500 thousand to a million, you should think about clear segmentation - choosing a group of people that you will focus on. Why not open English language courses for sales managers or for those who already have a good command of the language? offers an English language course for a career.

1. How to choose your target audience?

When choosing a target audience, you should rely on two criteria:

  • Experience. Answer the question: Who have you successfully worked with before?
    You 10 taught English at school to children 7-10 years old. You know how to find a common language with them, you know the psychological characteristics of this age, you know the appropriate teaching methods
  • Wish. Answer the question: What audience would you like to work with?
    Ideally, the desired target audience is the audience with which you have experience. But what if it isn't? Are you tired of naughty children and always dissatisfied parents to the gnashing of teeth? Do you dream of working with an adult motivated audience? Fine! So it's time to start looking for the perfect client.

2. Client portrait

To attract your ideal clients, you need to understand what kind of people they are, what they want, where and how they live, and much more. You can find them on thematic forums, in groups of Facebook competitors and among active subscribers of competitors.

You can study the target audience in person or through questionnaires. The second option is much more realistic, especially when it comes to online business - it is easier to scale, and respondents are not "tied" to a specific time and place.

The easiest way to create a questionnaire on Google forms. In this format, information is convenient to collect and process.

In order for potential customers to agree to take the time to fill out the questionnaire, you can offer them something free but useful as a reward - a video tutorial or a mini-book.

Here is an example of a questionnaire to identify the characteristics of the target audience:

  1. Education
  2. Age
  3. What is your field of activity
  4. What courses and trainings have you attended in the last 3 years?
  5. Why do you want to study English (or whatever is relevant to your niche)
  6. How long have you been working on this topic?
  7. What books on the topic have you read?
  8. What is the average per capita income of your family (with answer options)
  9. What Internet resources do you visit?

Based on the questionnaire, we draw up an approximate portrait of the client, which will help you set up targeted advertising and understand what a potential client needs.

Here's what a portrait of the target audience might look like:

What people are always willing to pay for: TOP niches

Looking for a profitable online business niches it is worth paying attention to the most popular niches in which there is always “money”. Specialists from these help solve eternal problems:

1. How to become rich (how to earn more)

Few people resist the temptation to learn the secret of a quick way to make money. For some, this secret is in the art of growing oyster mushrooms for sale, and for someone - in mastering the art of public speaking.

On the online courses "Strong Text" and "Personal Brand" from Free Publicity School, you will not only learn how to write texts and work on your own image and your recognition, you will learn how to monetize these skills.

2. How to get married successfully (how to find the man of your dreams)

Psychologists, coaches, fortune-tellers, psychics, astrologers and fitness trainers help to solve this problem. In the era of victorious feminism, women still dream of a traditional family and hope to find a caring, understanding partner.

Niche components

Considering niches for business online, it is necessary to be guided by the interests of two parties - the entrepreneur and the consumer. The coolest business idea will fail if the consumer is not willing to pay for it. Profitable niches for business on the Internet is at the intersection of these interests.

1. Desires and opportunities

The ideal business option from the point of view of an entrepreneur is when you do what you know how to do, love and you are also paid for it. To find your niche in online business, you should analyze your competencies and preferences:

  • I can. Write a list of your competencies.
  • I get paid for this.
  • I want to. Write a list of your deepest desires.
  • I definitely don't want to (you'll only do this when absolutely necessary).

I can:

  • Teaching children mathematics (diploma + 5 years of experience).
  • Play checkers (candidate master of sports).
  • Play the piano (graduated from music school).
  • Invent educational games for children (I have children 2 and 4 years old).
  • Prepare healthy and tasty meals for children (4 years experience).

I get paid for this:

  • For teaching children mathematics.
  • For playing checkers (playing for a team, cash prizes)

I want to:

  • Conduct mind games for adults.
  • Conduct cooking classes for young mothers.

I definitely don't want:

  • Play the piano (my mother forced me to study at the music school).
  • Do something with children (there are enough of their own children).

After analyzing all the points, you can understand that logic games for adults are a promising niche, because you were paid for work in related fields - for playing checkers and teaching mathematics with children. Cooking is your hobby, but your children's meals and their recipes are a hit with friends. Perhaps these two ideas can be combined? For example, create an online club for mothers on maternity leave who want to be good housewives and train the brain that misses work.

Attention!“I can”, “paid” and “I want” can coincide. Some people are so passionate about their profession that they do not think about other ways to earn money. If you find a niche in which your expertise is in demand, the success of an online school is guaranteed.

2. Checking the idea for profitability

Now it is important to check how interesting the business idea is to the target audience.

Tell your friends, real and virtual, who are related to the target audience, for example, mothers on maternity leave, about your project. Ask them three questions - here again the Google forms resource will come to the rescue:

  • Do you like my idea?
  • What exactly do you like/dislike about the idea?
  • If you answered yes to the first question, would you take part in the project?

And now comes the most difficult and crucial moment. Invite everyone who answered yes to the last question to pay to participate in your project. If at least a few people vote in rubles, your idea has the right to life.

3. Hard or soft niche

Hard niches- These are well-known, promoted niches in which there is high competition and many customers. A soft niches- less competitive, author's. They have fewer potential customers, but more opportunities for creativity and experimentation. If you are an ambitious person who aims for high earnings, you will feel comfortable in a tough niche. But if you don't have entrepreneurial experience but want to promote your favorite topic, a soft niche is for you.

Cooking for parents is a soft niche, while mind games for adults are a tougher one. You will have to compete not only with copyright games, but also with chess, backgammon, bridge and “What? Where? When?".

Conclusion

Difficult, but feasible task. A profitable niche is at the intersection of your skills and desires and being in demand among your target audience. And if you find a way to combine your desires and skills with solving the eternal problems of people, success will not be long in coming.

Do you want to create your own online school, produce yourself or your expert? Register now for a free webinar and receive a step-by-step PDF plan for creating your online school using this

Free market segments can be found in almost every area of ​​business. The most important thing is to consider their prospects in time. The 2019 business niches presented in this article are great for starting a new business. They are of great interest in society, so they are guaranteed to bring a good income.

Choose a field of activity

Before you decide on the choice of an actual niche for a business in 2019, you need to decide what you want to do - production or provision of services. If we talk about the choice of the direction of activity in general terms, recently the highest profitability has been shown by the "green business".

It could be:

  • Processing of secondary raw materials;
  • Alternative energy sources;
  • Cultivation of medicinal plants;
  • Growing organic vegetables and fruits;
  • Production of natural cosmetics.

Modern people are concerned about the state of the environment, so any business associated with improving the environmental situation is doomed to success. Take an interest, find a suitable idea and try to convince them to invest in it.

With a competent approach, any free niche in the business of 2019 can become highly profitable and promising. In order not to make a mistake with the choice, focus on those areas of activity in which you have certain knowledge and skills. At first glance, it may seem that an empty niche for a business from scratch is the best option for an aspiring entrepreneur. But, if you are a beginner in a particular area, it is unlikely that you will be able to correctly develop a strategy and calculate all possible risks. Therefore, before deciding which business niche to occupy, you need to objectively assess your knowledge and financial capabilities.

Features of choice

Not all fresh ideas show high profitability in practice. Before choosing a free small business niche in 2019, you need to find answers to a few questions:
  1. What is the target audience for your business?
  2. Will your idea interest consumers?
  3. Why will customers choose your product or service?
  4. Are there any downsides to your chosen line of business?

When determining the target audience, it is necessary to pay attention to the age range of potential customers, the gender factor, as well as their social status and income level. Do not forget that choosing a niche for a business from scratch is a very important and responsible stage, on which the success of your future business largely depends.

Especially carefully study all the weaknesses of the new business niche of 2019 and its shortcomings. Collect useful information on social networks or conduct a small survey among your friends and acquaintances. After you carefully analyze the results, you can begin to develop a business plan.

Over the past decade, the list of working business niches has been significantly updated. We present to your attention a few that are guaranteed to bring a good stable income.

Mobile service

The number of people with smartphones is constantly growing, so the mobile service can be safely called the most demanded niche for business in 2019. What can you do?

  • Development of mobile applications. Nowadays, almost all large companies use various applications to promote their services or products. In addition, interest in such a product began to grow in the banking sector;
  • Mobile versions of sites. According to opinion polls, about 75% of our country's citizens access the global network through mobile devices. Based on this, we can conclude that in the future the demand for the development of mobile versions of sites will grow;
  • Payment services. This is a fairly profitable niche in 2019, which allows you to receive decent income. But in this business it is impossible to do without innovative technological solutions;
  • Lead generation. According to statistics, 70% of Internet users get to various sites from social networks, respectively, they are the main source of lead generation. This business niche of 2019 has a lot of freelancers, but despite this, it needs a unique selling proposition.

If you are looking for free niches in business in Russia, be sure to pay attention to this area of ​​activity.

Handmade

Nowadays, for the production of various products, mainly artificial materials are used, so the demand for something natural and, at the same time, original has begun to grow. As a rule, such unique products are made by hand, so they are not cheap. If you are creative and love to do manual work, you can start related to the production of handmade products. There are no big players in this market segment, so the level of competition here is quite low.

What can be produced?

  • Exclusive clothes and accessories;
  • Handmade jewelry;
  • Christmas decorations;
  • Festive decor;
  • Author's dolls;
  • Original interior items;
  • earthenware, etc.

Handmade ideas are a great way to.

The medicine

Recently, manual therapy has become very popular. People who are not helped by conventional medical treatment often turn to alternative medicine. The demand for such services is growing every year. This is a great niche to start a business as it is highly profitable and does not require a major financial investment.

The second place in popularity is occupied by specialized clinics - cardiological centers, ultrasound rooms, etc. Of course, in order to occupy such a profitable niche for business in 2019, serious capital investments will be required, but the service in highly specialized clinics is not cheap, so you can quickly return all your initial investment.

Dental offices are very popular. Modern people want to have a personal dentist who can be visited at a convenient time for them. The most important thing in this business is the low-cost quality services provided with comfort.

Before choosing a niche for a business, weigh the pros and cons to avoid serious mistakes at the start.

Food

Aspiring entrepreneurs are often interested in what business niches will develop in a crisis? The answer is simple - everything related to essential goods, and in particular, food.

What can be done?

  • Organize production. We are not talking about huge enterprises here. For example, you can do homemade sweets, conservation, pickles and more;
  • Trade. Do not rush to open the store right away. To get started, try selling pastries or cakes to order via the Internet. This is enough ;
  • Food delivery. This is another in-demand business niche for 2019 that has yet to be filled by other entrepreneurs. You can deliver hot meals or pizza from nearby cafes or cook them yourself at home. If you want to do such a thing, you first need to objectively assess your capabilities. Most likely, you will have to hire an assistant or enter into a cooperation agreement with a courier delivery service.

Food production and trade are among the top business niches for start-up entrepreneurs. This line of business is in demand in any economic conditions, so it will be guaranteed to bring a good stable income.

Education

Related videos Related videos

How to sell your knowledge? There are many options:

  • Write books or small manuals on a topic that you are well versed in;
  • Shoot video tutorials and sell them online;
  • Develop various training courses;
  • Conduct trainings and seminars;
  • Offer advice to clients.

Choose, in your opinion, the most successful business niche and start acting. Nowadays, many people strive to gain new knowledge, so you will not lack customers.

Repair

Due to the crisis, many people are in no hurry to throw away old things that need to be repaired. If you know how to repair household appliances or furniture, you should not think for a long time about which niche to choose for your business. Open a repair shop and start earning money. Even if you do not understand technology, you can rent a room, purchase the necessary tools, equipment and hire qualified specialists. In principle, it is possible to carry out repairs at customers' homes. This option is suitable for beginners who do not have money to rent a room for a workshop. By the way, this is very convenient for customers, since certain problems may arise with the transportation of large household appliances, such as a refrigerator or a washing machine.

One of the best niches for business in 2019 is turnkey apartment renovation. Such activities will bring good profit in 2018. There is one secret in this case. Most often, customers do not understand the quality of work, but they always evaluate the level of service. If you want your business to develop, do all the work strictly on time.

Starting a business and entering new niches is never easy. In recent years, the desire to do business among Russians is increasingly fading. At the end of 2015, for example, only 2.2% of Russians seriously intended to start their own business. And in 2014, when the crisis had just begun, and the current businessmen began to actively sell their businesses. According to Opora Rossii, 483.6 thousand companies closed and only 417.5 thousand opened.

And yet, a businessman is a diagnosis, respectively, there will always be people who are truly “sick” in business. In 2016, interest in starting your own business resurfaced. The reason for this, perhaps, is that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find decent pay in employment.

Of course, that opening a business from scratch, that entering a new niche from an existing profile is a risky business that does not promise a quick enrichment. Moreover, the number of niches for small and medium-sized businesses has been declining more and more lately.

In December, Elena Dybova, vice-president of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, diagnosed Russian small business - almost all business niches were occupied by corporations. In her opinion, the niches of services and trade are occupied, production requires money and resources, which became less available with the onset of the 2014 crisis.

Boris Titov, Russia's presidential ombudsman for entrepreneurial rights, says it's still difficult for small businesses to get public procurement orders, as industry giants are trying to circumvent these rules despite the fact. When everything works, small businesses should get a big piece of the social sphere pie.

New business, old business - are there any unoccupied niches

True, there is no evil without good. A crisis is an opportunity to squeeze into the market with a solution to the problems that this crisis gives rise to. According to the authors of the BBoss portal for the sale of ready-made businesses, new niches lie in the following areas:

1. Goods and services, saving. Discounters, second-hand shops, sites for selling and exchanging things, catering places with inexpensive food, as well as anti-crisis services, such as financial advice, are becoming more in demand.

Example. A company of young people, smart university graduates who were engaged in tutoring schoolchildren, united into a small company. The unique offer consisted, in fact, in the same tutoring - they prepared children for the exam. But there was one difference - tutoring is not one-on-one with a student, but with a group of children. This suited the clients (parents), since the size of the group is still smaller than the class, and there are not 30 students per teacher, but 7-10. And the price was lower than individual training. The result of such group training is higher - the influence of the group has a positive effect.

2. Businesses on innovations and technologies. This is an area in which there is almost no crisis. This niche is difficult to enter, but it is insensitive to market fluctuations.

Example. Let's take a company that specializes in the development and production of innovative vacuum switching technology, intelligent devices for automating networks and substations, etc. 25 years ago, she created equipment with a unique operating principle. Despite the presence of competitors, it is their devices that are purchased throughout Russia. And the company itself is represented not only in Russia, but also has 22 representative offices abroad.

3. Consulting and training. As a business education does not require large investments. What is needed is a lot of knowledge and experience. The demand for consulting is growing, as mistakes are becoming more expensive, and competent people are needed who can protect them from them. Another thing is that there are not so many truly literate people. So the stars do not remain without work.

Example. The hotel market in Moscow is very saturated, but the hotel industry, according to professionals, has not developed. The reason is that in the minds of hoteliers it does not always fit that the competitive battle is won not by good, but by hospitable establishments. Company N is engaged in auditing, consulting and training in the hotel business. They chose to solve service problems in this area and do not rush into other industries. Previously, the owner of N Company worked as a hotel manager herself, so she understands the pains of the industry.

4. Import substitution- let's make a reservation right away that despite the loud statements, the results of import substitution are still very modest. Official statistics do not say how many foreign components are in products manufactured at home and on what equipment they are made. The situation is better in agriculture. With all the reservations, now is the best time for the development of agricultural projects. Although it is already too late to enter this business from scratch. But the working agribusinesses have every chance to change their profile and take the positions that were vacated with the departure of foreign products.

Example. The Mari company has been developing two directions with varying success for many years: goat breeding and production of products from goat milk. The breakthrough occurred for several reasons, the co-owner of the company reflects: the business received government subsidies, product niches were vacated, and a competent management step was taken - hiring an experienced marketer who developed new packaging and positioning, which allowed Mari products to compete in the largest retail chains with foreign goods.

5. Maintenance of Internet projects. The popularity of this area is due to the fact that in recent years retail is moving to online. And quite complex sites-online stores need competent support. Therefore, all those who are somehow connected in this activity are now in demand: web studios, designers, advertising specialists and copywriters.

Example. Bots that respond to customer requests in Telegram and collect feedback are a good business assistant that saves on a call center. Company N was one of the first to decide to create such robots to order. The work is simple, but everywhere there are nuances, and often clients prefer not to do this on their own, but to give the creation of such a cunning “call center” to our heroes.

Business on Decree as a New Support for SMEs

These tips apply to both those who start a business and those who are looking for new niches for their existing business. Finding them is like reinventing the wheel. It seems that all bicycles have already been invented, but there are unique people who want to buy a bicycle with square wheels or a tandem bicycle. We will have to look for such unique ones with their mini-problems, the solution of which they will meet with applause!

For example, a federal company - a factory for the production of chocolates - did not have a single chance to fight for high positions on the shelves in chain stores. Then they focused on the gift segment, and became the only confectioners who produce expensive gift chocolate. Part of the assortment has entered the network, the rest is sold via the Internet and their own retail, where they go for special gifts - personal and corporate. 75% of purchases are made by women.

The same niches persist even in declining industries such as publishing, for example. You won’t earn billions here, but the founder and the team will definitely have enough for a good income.

A new female entrepreneurship is also called a separate trend. Entrepreneurial mothers are a new phenomenon in the Russian economy, they are well aware of their audience of clients in one way or another connected with children, and experts believe that this niche has a great chance of developing.

Franchising is also considered an underestimated business niche. , and companies that learn how to properly scale their business have a huge chance of success.

Outcome

  1. There are almost no niches left for small businesses - corporations with huge resources and a margin of safety have occupied most of the positions in the market. In addition, the mechanism for providing state orders to small and medium-sized businesses is still not working well. With a new start, it is important to analyze and understand what needs of the client are not covered by corporations. And then there is every chance of success. It makes no sense to open a grocery store next to Magnit. But opening a shop with fresh fish promises profit.
  2. The crisis is the time of the emergence of new small niches associated with the desire of both business and ordinary people to save money. It is here that great opportunities lie for organizing a new business or launching new products.
  3. Franchising is one of those niches that remains underestimated year after year. Interest in franchises is consistently high, but there are few really good offers. Whoever can offer the market a good franchise will succeed.
Editor's Choice
On the instructions of the editors, the columnist for RG Weeks turned into an unemployed person for a month: first, a 59-year-old manager, then a 54-year-old ...

If you have not been actively looking for a job in the last couple of years, then your knowledge of the form, design and content of the resume is no longer relevant ....

Consider examples of names of construction companies: how to come up with a successful brand, what tasks it will help to solve, and whether there are any ...

When thinking about starting a business, an entrepreneur must understand how long it will take to cover costs, and from what moment they will start ...
The phrase "Open a business from scratch" does not call for much confidence. For some reason, it seems that behind it are offers such as playing on the stock exchange or ...
Opening a mushroom farm is beneficial due to the ability to grow products all year round. Below is an example of a growing business plan...
Sooner or later, the question arises before a person: to continue working "for an uncle" or to try his hand at his own business....
The e-commerce market is quite young, which will allow in the next few years to find vacant niches and topics in order to, moreover, ...
Often, entrepreneurs have an important question: What is needed to liquidate their own business? In this article, we'll talk about how...