Welcome to the first blog post of many where I go into each and every interview from the 2019 Empowered Petpreneur Interview Series, where I chatted with pet industry experts and business owners all about how to feel at ease while confidently running and growing a successful pet business.
For those of you who missed the series, I still wanted to share with you a snippet from the interview, some of the important takeaways I learned from each interview, and some other things you'd learn from watching the rest of the interview!
We’re starting off with a topic I know many of you are struggling with, especially if you haven’t started your business yet. Can I really do it? Is my passion or dream business too niched? Could I be successful with something so niche?
This post is part of Pet Marketing Unleashed’s Blog Series on The Empowered Petpreneur Interview Series. Click here to access the full interview series.
Interview 1 - Alicia Boemi From Holistic Pet Wellness On...
Building The Business Of Your Dreams: Niching Down
Alicia is the owner of Holistic Pet Wellness, an online business offering very unique and niched services for pets, including pet nutrition, bodywork and massage, and pet aromatherapy support. She has a wide range of expertise in the pet and social media industries and I wanted to hear from her all about building the business of your dreams and the reality of niching down to something very specific.
There are many people out there that are nervous about niching their business, whether it’s in the pet industry or not, so I figured if anyone could address these concerns, it’d be Alicia!
Let’s get to it!
Watch this two-minute snippet of the interview:
The Major Takeaways
1. If you’re passionate about a problem you have, and you’ve found a solution, it’s likely that someone else has that problem, too.
That's ultimately where the business can be formed. Honestly, as a marketer and web designer myself, the more specific your business is, the more likely you’ll end up working with the clients you want to work with. These are the people that are scrounging the Internet not knowing a business like yours exists.
When they find you, it’s like...no questions asked. ‘I absolutely HAVE to work with you because you sell EXACTLY what I need.’ So, yes, maybe you’re working with 5 clients a month instead of 20 general clients. HOWEVER, the 5 clients a month will be willing to pay a lot more money, they’ll be easier and more enjoyable on you, they’ll appreciate and spread the word about what you do, and you’ll be more fulfilled. It’s a win-win!
2. If you have the fire for it, you can make it happen. Amen, Alicia! A simple but valuable lesson into pursuing your dreams.
3. Passion-based businesses aren’t perfect. There are still days where you may question your choices.
In fact, it’s very easy for us as entrepreneurs to question yourself. That’s part of the journey, but that doesn’t mean it’s the wrong path for you. My advice here is to realize that not every day will be a perfect one and that’s okay! You still get the opportunity to pursue your passion and live the life you want to create and that’s what matters.
So, my advice here is to either:
A. Start the business you want to start, even if it seems niche. Or,
B. If you already have a pet business that’s pretty general/broad and you’re not bringing in what you want to bring in or you’re not working with the people you love, consider how you can need down further. For example, if you’re a dog walker or pet sitter and you just serve pet owners in your community, think about what you love most. Do you LOVE working with small dogs? Do you love caring for blind pets? Think about what you love, how you can potentially serve those specific clients better than someone more broad, and watch your fulfillment increase dramatically.
The rest of this interview goes into:
What tools to use to grow your niche business
What social media platform she recommends
What Alicia has to say about SEO, keywords, and tracking your website traffic
If you want to watch this interview AND the other 19, click here.
Learn more about Alicia on Instagram at @holisticpetwellness. And, hey, while you're there, connect with me, too! @petmarketingunleashed
