Am I violating the Law of Effection with a micro niche strategy?

[circleme]

Hi all,

Brief background to my thought processes:

Instead of offering with my software e.g. project management solutions (should only serve as an example), I feel from a competitive point of view one approach is much more "suitable" to stand out from the crowd here:

1. project management software
2. project management software for lawyers
3. project management software for IP lawyers
4. project management software for IP attorneys in state XY

The 4th point could now theoretically be questioned in terms of its meaningfulness, but I think that my train of thought has emerged: the more in-depth I go, the easier it will be for me to offer incredible added value to precisely this target group. To offer sub-solutions that e.g. generic project management software does not offer. Also, the classic effect would occur that IP lawyers in state XY (4th option) will be much more likely to choose my solution, because it is tailor-made to their needs, than a generic solution (option 1 or 2). So far, so good. However, here comes my question now:

After I break down my niche further and further, the pool of possible, potential customers shrinks at the same time. Doesn't this strategy violate the Law of Effectiveness right from the start? In terms of scale, the answer is of course "yes". But I'm not so sure about magnitude, because I offer a lot more added value with my target-group-specific software than generic solutions do. I do see a price differentiation here, but I am not talking about multiple factors. By this I mean that if option 1 costs $10 per month, I may be able to double, triple or even quadruple that with option 4 and the increased added value, but I won't necessarily do "better" in an overall comparison between a large market with smaller prices and a small market with larger prices.

I see immediate scaling possibilities here, by making my solution available to other lawyer target groups (copyright, IT law, ...) in the future, but if we stay purely with my starting situation described above, where exactly only a micro-target group - if you will - is targeted, then I violate both variables of the Law of Effections to a certain extent, don't I? It might be different if, based on my solution, the said target group would pay me 20 times as much as I think. So, if I don't want to scale over more target groups, is my task to push the added value accordingly much higher, so that I can justify this factor and reach magnitude?

I look forward to your input.

 

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[Subsonic]

Hi all,

Brief background to my thought processes:

Instead of offering with my software e.g. project management solutions (should only serve as an example), I feel from a competitive point of view one approach is much more "suitable" to stand out from the crowd here:

1. project management software
2. project management software for lawyers
3. project management software for IP lawyers
4. project management software for IP attorneys in state XY

The 4th point could now theoretically be questioned in terms of its meaningfulness, but I think that my train of thought has emerged: the more in-depth I go, the easier it will be for me to offer incredible added value to precisely this target group. To offer sub-solutions that e.g. generic project management software does not offer. Also, the classic effect would occur that IP lawyers in state XY (4th option) will be much more likely to choose my solution, because it is tailor-made to their needs, than a generic solution (option 1 or 2). So far, so good. However, here comes my question now:

After I break down my niche further and further, the pool of possible, potential customers shrinks at the same time. Doesn't this strategy violate the Law of Effectiveness right from the start? In terms of scale, the answer is of course "yes". But I'm not so sure about magnitude, because I offer a lot more added value with my target-group-specific software than generic solutions do. I do see a price differentiation here, but I am not talking about multiple factors. By this I mean that if option 1 costs $10 per month, I may be able to double, triple or even quadruple that with option 4 and the increased added value, but I won't necessarily do "better" in an overall comparison between a large market with smaller prices and a small market with larger prices.

I see immediate scaling possibilities here, by making my solution available to other lawyer target groups (copyright, IT law, ...) in the future, but if we stay purely with my starting situation described above, where exactly only a micro-target group - if you will - is targeted, then I violate both variables of the Law of Effections to a certain extent, don't I? It might be different if, based on my solution, the said target group would pay me 20 times as much as I think. So, if I don't want to scale over more target groups, is my task to push the added value accordingly much higher, so that I can justify this factor and reach magnitude?

I look forward to your input.

Bro worry about that stuff when your stuck at 20k a month.
Your problem right now is that your not making money. So change that. The software could be pretty good and being very niche will help you to start out.
Also you just answered your own question.
On the other hand, if you have software for lawyers and want to price it at 10 a month, your thinking wrong. A lawyer takes upwards of 100 per hour if he's good so if this software saves him 3 hours a week, you could price it at 497 a month with no problem.

 

[Johnny boy]

You can make stuff that works for many people and have a landing page for just that group.

 

[Panos Daras]

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[Skroob]

Especially in software, it's very easy to set out to make, as you say, a PM app for lawyers in Kentucky, and then once you get a foothold in the market, expand to West Virginia (or whatever). There's a big advantage to hyper-targeting a market; you can focus your app, your marketing efforts, everything, and when you hit a critical mass and customers are recommending you and you're getting emails like "My friend in KY uses your app but I'm in WV, any plans to expand?" you'll know what to do.

 

[circleme]

Especially in software, it's very easy to set out to make, as you say, a PM app for lawyers in Kentucky, and then once you get a foothold in the market, expand to West Virginia (or whatever). There's a big advantage to hyper-targeting a market; you can focus your app, your marketing efforts, everything, and when you hit a critical mass and customers are recommending you and you're getting emails like "My friend in KY uses your app but I'm in WV, any plans to expand?" you'll know what to do.

So basically, starting with my "micro niche audience" and slowly upgrading to other sub-niches in the same area, right?

 

[Skroob]

So basically, starting with my "micro niche audience" and slowly upgrading to other sub-niches in the same area, right?

That's what I would do.

That's exactly what I am doing, actually.

 

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[circleme]

You can make stuff that works for many people and have a landing page for just that group.

View attachment 48051View attachment 48052

Ty, Johnny!

I just looked at this company and saw that they now offer their service for many niches. I'm just wondering here: What did they initially start with, or with which niche? I can't imagine that they've started with all of them from scratch, but slowly expanded over the years.

I myself am in the development process and already have more than enough work with only one niche. But I think they also started with a micro niche and only expanded over time. So actually similar to how @Skroob described it, I assume.

 

[LiveFire]

Hi all,

Brief background to my thought processes:

Instead of offering with my software e.g. project management solutions (should only serve as an example), I feel from a competitive point of view one approach is much more "suitable" to stand out from the crowd here:

1. project management software
2. project management software for lawyers
3. project management software for IP lawyers
4. project management software for IP attorneys in state XY

The 4th point could now theoretically be questioned in terms of its meaningfulness, but I think that my train of thought has emerged: the more in-depth I go, the easier it will be for me to offer incredible added value to precisely this target group. To offer sub-solutions that e.g. generic project management software does not offer. Also, the classic effect would occur that IP lawyers in state XY (4th option) will be much more likely to choose my solution, because it is tailor-made to their needs, than a generic solution (option 1 or 2). So far, so good. However, here comes my question now:

After I break down my niche further and further, the pool of possible, potential customers shrinks at the same time. Doesn't this strategy violate the Law of Effectiveness right from the start? In terms of scale, the answer is of course "yes". But I'm not so sure about magnitude, because I offer a lot more added value with my target-group-specific software than generic solutions do. I do see a price differentiation here, but I am not talking about multiple factors. By this I mean that if option 1 costs $10 per month, I may be able to double, triple or even quadruple that with option 4 and the increased added value, but I won't necessarily do "better" in an overall comparison between a large market with smaller prices and a small market with larger prices.

I see immediate scaling possibilities here, by making my solution available to other lawyer target groups (copyright, IT law, ...) in the future, but if we stay purely with my starting situation described above, where exactly only a micro-target group - if you will - is targeted, then I violate both variables of the Law of Effections to a certain extent, don't I? It might be different if, based on my solution, the said target group would pay me 20 times as much as I think. So, if I don't want to scale over more target groups, is my task to push the added value accordingly much higher, so that I can justify this factor and reach magnitude?

I look forward to your input.

To understand better, when you say "project management software", is there something specific within project management you are wanting to provide? Project management can mean a lot of different things to different people. There are also multiple methodologies and frameworks to project management.

What would you be offering in your solution?
How is project management different for regular lawyers vs. IP lawyers?

LF

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I think your strategy is an awesome launch point.

 

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[lecym17]

Bro worry about that stuff when your stuck at 20k a month.
Your problem right now is that your not making money. So change that. The software could be pretty good and being very niche will help you to start out.
Also you just answered your own question.
On the other hand, if you have software for lawyers and want to price it at 10 a month, your thinking wrong. A lawyer takes upwards of 100 per hour if he's good so if this software saves him 3 hours a week, you could price it at 497 a month with no problem.

I agree with this one, further in your journey there will be new skills and connections that will be built that can lead you to a business that you didn't think about. Don't worry about the step 99, just worry about the step 2 and 3 then adjust, just like the book says, customers will be the one directing as to the right plan.

 

[Tomco]

I think your strategy is a great way to start!

Not only will you get to test out your skills in the field, you'll be able to adjust them according to real life scenarios.

As a plus, since your going very detailed in a very small group, if you offer immense value to one customer, they'll naturally recommend you to others and help you build a reputation, much like a butterfly effect.

Goodluck on your journey!

 

[mikecarlooch]

You can make stuff that works for many people and have a landing page for just that group.

View attachment 48051View attachment 48052

this reminded me of something important. thanks

 

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[Johnny boy]

Ty, Johnny!

I just looked at this company and saw that they now offer their service for many niches. I'm just wondering here: What did they initially start with, or with which niche? I can't imagine that they've started with all of them from scratch, but slowly expanded over the years.

I myself am in the development process and already have more than enough work with only one niche. But I think they also started with a micro niche and only expanded over time. So actually similar to how @Skroob described it, I assume.

View attachment 48053

starting in micro niche is like how facebook started by only doing it at their one college first.

Amazon only started with books first.

We only do recurring lawn maintenance as our first thing before expanding into other things.

Start with the easiest thing that will get you traction. You can develop it better and learn from users after you have experience. Then you can build things that will work for larger number of people.