It’s not about the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog. Nothing sums up the power of niches like that movie quote. I have written about finding good niches to serve but a niche business is taking it to the next level. A niche business serves a small clientele base and while that doesn’t initially sound like good business good niches are usually populated with people who are motivated to spend more than the average customer. What this means for those who serve niches is a more profitable business and we love profit. So here are some niche business ideas that can make very good money.

Online coaching

Let’s start here because it is kind of the flavour right now. Online coaching is such a versatile and wide-field, you could really coach people in just about anything as long as you have the requisite skill. Baking, cryptocurrency, equity trading, blogging, writing, speaking, exercise and just about anything else you can think of. You don’t need much besides things that are already available to you. Video may be necessary and this may weigh on your costs. While not all of the audiences listed above will be small the number of people who are willing to pay for coaching will generally be small. We are looking for the willing in a business like this and that is who you will be focussed on.

Arts and Crafts

While I’ve labelled this group of niche business ideas arts and crafts do not immediately cast your mind to soapstone statues of animals and how saturated the market is. Art is dynamic and subjective and what you should rather be looking at are new expressions. Crochet clothing though not quite art is a good example of this. Have a look at Shanfield Mcleish Moyo and his art business for inspiration. There are new ideas and expressions of art breaking through in the world regularly and early adopters form the target market for your niche business. The best part of art and craft is the production costs are generally not high.

Accessories

There are some things we use regularly but don’t really think about how much value they hold. A good example is phone cases. Almost all of us use phone cases. And while the primary purpose of these accessories is to protect our most valuable possession people have taken to them as another way to express themself. Finding a group of people who feel strongly about a certain thing, say cryptocurrency trading and making phone cases that shout cryptocurrency or bitcoin is one example of an idea like this. Again the emotional attachment to the activity while niche increases the value to the customer. And there is really no stopping here. Jewellery, bags, caps, armbands and just about anything you can think of could work if you understand the connection between the niche and object.

Antique refurbishing

Zimbabweans, especially those from generation X, roughly those born in the 1960s and 1970s, love to keep things. Old things. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There is value to antique goods and those who attach value to them would want to keep them in mint condition. If you have the requisite skills that’s where you come in. Obvious ideas like furniture come to mind but there are a lot of things that could be restored including electronic items and other household items. Antiques have incredibly high resale value if kept in good condition. Put the sentimental value these things hold on top and you have a motivated customer.

Blogging/Podcasting/Vlogging

This is such an open book when it comes to opportunities for expression out there. There’s a lot of free content in these spheres but that doesn’t stop you from getting paid through these new media platforms. While content is awash there is a lack of catered content. Take personal finance as an example, while there is a world of creators churning out personal finance content there isn’t much out there that caters for people who have to deal with the RBZ, RTGS dollars and foreign currency exchange rates that gallop. That number may be small but they are extremely motivated. And that’s the whole idea. Finding special interest groups that need catered content that is specific to their context.  You can get paid in many ways which you can find in the article about making money through blogging.

You can make decent money through many other niches but the rules to finding good niches still apply. The best niches tend to be underserved and willing to spend extra money to find the good or service they need. Businesses like this will not be awash with customers but the ones you get will be high quality (profitable) customers.