Big Fish or Small Fry?

November 23rd, 2007 by Cristina Favreau

A few weeks ago my step-dad told me he wants to start a business selling log homes in Canada as an authorized dealer for a US company. The coach, entrepreneur and Devil’s Advocate in me perked up and started asking tough questions about how he plans to execute his marketing plan — is there even a marketing plan?

In no time, I brought up the target market factor because it’s an important one. My step-dad reasoned that, because the log home company doesn’t have Canadian dealers, the whole of Canada would be an open market and orders would come flooding in from all over the country.

Can you guess what he answered when I asked “Who is your target market?” You guessed it… “Everyone!” Amateurs (sorry, Kim).

I hated to burst his bubble (not really), but I had to lay it out for him. If you’re swimming in the great big ole Everyones-a-prospect Ocean, one of 3 things will happen:

  1. You’ll get eaten by a bigger fish. (aka: Being acquired, outsmarted, eclipsed, or squashed by the competition.)
  2. You’ll swim around aimlessly for hours, days, months hoping to find a fish — any fish — who wants what you’re offering — and frankly you’d settle for any aquatic vertebrate at this point… after all, you really need the business. (aka: spreading your time, energy, money and efforts so wide that you burn out, or give up from discouragement. “Nothing works. I’ve tried everything. What am I doing wrong?“)
  3. Join a school of fish, because it’s just too hard being all alone in this great big sea. (aka:Throwing in the towel and (re)joining Corporate America, ’cause owning a business is just too hard and too much work.)

I told him it’s much better to be the big fish in a small pond, because you’ll stand out from the crowd. There are 2 main reasons for this:

  1. You’ll have little to no direct competition.
  2. Your target audience will see your business as more closely suited to their particular needs.

So how do you become the big fish? 2 ways:

  1. Narrow down your niche and become the expert.
  2. Share your expertise in any way possible.

He wasn’t entirely sold on the idea (“But I don’t want to exclude anyone.“), but I think I started getting through to him on the matter.

So, who are you swimming with?

Category General Marketing, Ideal Client, Selling Your Services, Starting a business, Target Market, Visibility | 6 Comments »

  • http://www.mannmadetime.com/blog Jaime

    Great post, Cristina. It’s tough for people to see why they need to focus on a target market. My TM is real estate agents, but my business ended up being filled with all kinds of clients outside of that industry through networking referrals.

    I’m sure he’ll come around ;)

  • http://tendayteam.com chris johnson

    you couldn’t be more right.

    I am in a commodity market–mortgage practitioners. In order to even rise to the level of average, I had a few things to do.

    #1: I got an exclusive message: Ten Day Service, guaranteed. This is unique and novel, and semi exclusive.

    #2. I marketed to Realtors, because they have one to many relationships, and they are in charge of this sort of thing.

    #3. I stay on message–banner to carry, story to tell.

    Now, my business is big. Most people don’t ask for a mortgage in ten days, but because I say that that’s what I do,they figure that I can get theirs done, no problem.

    I also think it’s time for a holiday challenge: Make December 20% above average. This is for service providers, Realtors, and individual practitioners. People go into holiday mode and are no longer accountable.

    Let’s make ‘em.

    Best, SEE YOU.

  • http://www.cristinafavreau.com/ Cristina Favreau

    Jaime, I love that you share how you have a specific target, but it doesn’t prevent you from attracting and taking on other types of clients.

    Therein lies the secret — Networking and Referrals.

    BTW, congrats on your new blog. I look at you and wonder “How does she do it with 2 kids at home?” You’re an inspiration!

  • http://www.cristinafavreau.com/ Cristina Favreau

    Chris, I love your approach of offering a guaranteed, unique, novel and exclusive service compared to others in your industry.

    You also make it very clear on your blog who you work with and who you don’t. While this may turn off some people (which I bet you’re hoping it’ll turn off non-ideal clients) it will appeal to exactly the type of client you want to work with.

    Congrats on putting out such a clear message.

    I love your challenge for December. It’s true, we tend to slack off more in December (I don’t know about you, but knowing that the second half of December is a write-off pretty much seals it for me).

    I’m committed to making December 20% better than my overall average this year — which, unfortunately isn’t a stretch, since I was on mat leave half the year.

  • http://www.womendaybyday.com Maryan Pelland

    What you say is so true and so overlooked. When we decide to start a business, often our excitement makes us forge ahead, feeling we’ll over the basics as we go. But if we don’t cover basics first, we may never get past our first hurtle. Figuring out who you’re speaking (selling, marketing) to is critical to success. My business is writing – I not only have to figure out who I’m selling my work to, but I need to always know who I’m speaking to as I write. That’s good practice for me to be able to keep my eye on the ball and visualize my target. Thanks for the reminder.

    Maryan
    Digital Grandparent at DemystifyingDigital.com
    online at Suite101.com

  • http://www.cristinafavreau.com/ Cristina Favreau

    Maryan, thanks for the glimpse into your business and the way you keep focused on your audience.

    I’ll be the first to say that the whole hoopla of identifying your target market when you first start a business is overrated. However, it’s important to have some idea of who you’d like your message to reach first. In my step-dad’s case, because it’s high end construction of homes, it’s best if he doesn’t target lower income families to start with.

    Please let us know how your business goes and how you reach your target audience.