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What do you think are the most saturated markets?

ChrisGav

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Curious what you guys think about market saturation. Does it matter? Are there some markets that stand out to you as over saturated?
When I think saturated I think the fitness/personal training industry. Possibly even the web development industry, what do you guys think?
 
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Matt Hunt

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I feel like everything is saturated these days. Something like personal training is very easy to get into, but I also think the 80/20 rule applies. 20% of personal trainers are probably doing 80% of the business. It's still very possible to do well in fitness, but you have to be better than the competition!
 

B. Cole

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No market is too saturated for an emerging leader, who provides value, innovation and service better than all the rest. The question is whether a person is willing to do what it takes to get to the top.

I personally think cups, clothes, bags and other finished products easily acquired through Alibaba are extremely saturated.
 

GrandRub

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saturated often means "filled with the same boring stuff". have a different approach. value skew.

i know guys who started selling print on demand t shirts in 2018 and they are doing great.
you just have to be a bit better than the rest. and in many cases it isnt that hard.
 

Jeff Noel

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To me, saturation just means mainstream folks are getting into it (most of the time). It means lots of low quality products/services. You can come out on top if you try hard enough. Sometimes it can take a ton of resources though.

Unscripted talks about that in a sense. Just come out with value and skew the public's interest towards your product.
 
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GrandRub

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also when a market becomes more and more saturated - new niches and submarkets appear that float arround that market.

dont be in that saturated market - but maybe develop tools for that market, be an affiliate for that market, merge the saturated market with something new and create your own twist.
 
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Madame Peccato

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I read a quote on here (mentioned by @Andy Black I believe? I don't remember who the quote was from though) that said "a market is never saturated with a good product".

Yes, there is a lot of competition on just about everything in this world, but if you are truly better than your competition, the market is never going to be saturated for you. It is only saturated for the average business. However, we are here to be better than the average. Or to enter a market where the average has not been established yet.
 

Andy Black

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I read a quote on here (mentioned by @Andy Black I believe? I don't remember who the quote was from though) that said "a market is never saturated with a good product".

Yes, there is a lot of competition on just about everything in this world, but if you are truly better than your competition, the market is never going to be saturated for you. It is only saturated for the average business. However, we are here to be better than the average. Or to enter a market where the average has not been established yet.
Wasn’t me. Nice line though!
 
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ChrisGav

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Thanks guys, I've been learning website coding and development in my spare time recently. I have been wanting to go into designing websites for companies in the local area but feared it may be too saturated.
 

DURABLEOILCOM

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Every market is saturated with competition. Find something you are passionate about and enjoy working with then find out how to offer a premium service or product that enriches people's life and adds value.
 

Phil K

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I think market saturation is less relevant, assuming you're providing a value skew of some sort.

However, I've found that a saturated market is usually indicative of a business opportunity that violates the commandment of entry.

Thoughts?
 
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ChrisGav

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Wasn’t me. Nice line though!
I just read your post about not consuming so much information and start doing more. I was very inspired than began to wonder what I know anything about that I can truly start right now. What suggestions do you have if one doesn't have a particular skill that stands out?
 

PizzaOnTheRoof

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There’s always a market for excellent service and great products.

How often have you said “There’s just too many great ____ out there, I can’t decide!”?

Probably not very often. There’s usually only one or two market leaders that are far above the rest.

Mobile phones are beyond saturated at this point and yet who sells the most year over year? Apple and Samsung.

Productocracy is the cure to market saturation.
 

minivanman

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I've known MANY people that had great business ideas and could provide a MUCH better service than anyone else in their niche but..... they didn't do a very good job of advertising.

On the other hand, I know thousands of people that suck at what they do yet do a good job at marketing their business and make lots of profit.

Moral of the story..... you can be better than anyone in the world, but if you don't market your business better than anyone in the world, no one will ever know.
 
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MTF

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Andy Black

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I just read your post about not consuming so much information and start doing more. I was very inspired than began to wonder what I know anything about that I can truly start right now. What suggestions do you have if one doesn't have a particular skill that stands out?
Think less about you and your skills, and more about people you can help? Maybe check out the first radio interview in my signature.
 

Andy Black

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I feel like everything is saturated these days. Something like personal training is very easy to get into, but I also think the 80/20 rule applies. 20% of personal trainers are probably doing 80% of the business. It's still very possible to do well in fitness, but you have to be better than the competition!
Good point. Lets run with this example.

It appears easy to get into personal training because people could do a few courses (or not) and proclaim they’re a personal trainer. (Similar to how people can “easily” get into blogging and podcasting.)

But that ease of entry makes the *actual* entry very difficult - because there’s so many other people doing it that you can’t get attention and/or clients or customers.


Years ago I did a short video that I think is relevant:
 
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RazorCut

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My thoughts are:

Saturation is a measurement of supply. A point where the market can't take any more. Oversupply of the same commodity pushes prices down and, given enough time, pushes vulnerable businesses out of the market which creates a gap (either perceived or real) which other businesses are often all to eager to fill (the grass is always greener). So in a mature market you end up with a level of constant churning. The big, strong or smart taking the lions share while the rest fight over the rest of the carcass.

Consumers want more things to consume, either as a distraction, to enrich their life (by making it easier or better in some way), or simply because of peer pressure (keeping up with the Joneses).

Business owners want more money (through more sales or higher profits), less effort and more time.

So that's the needs of the market.

The options available in a saturated market are to provide at a level far beyond the competition (easier if you niche down and specialise for a sector of that market). Or to go broad and draw other less saturated market segments in through diversification and innovation.

You just need to find a competitive advantage. One that is not based solely on price because that is a fools solution.

I've gone both ways in the past (niche and broad) and both work extremely well. The hard part is maintaining that competitive advantage when overs are forced to follow your lead.
 

MJ DeMarco

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I heard about a guy who got in to the Limo reservation business after it was saturated, he did okay.

Thanks but I wouldn't say it was saturated, just served adequately.

I think market saturation is less relevant, assuming you're providing a value skew of some sort.

Productocracy is the cure to market saturation.

This is the answer to perceived saturation ... value skew in route to a productocracy. Then marketing so people know about it.

As long as value attributes can be skewed, there is always room for one additional.

Just realize that the more saturated something is, the more difficult execution becomes.
 

Mattie

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whether a person is willing to do what it takes to get to the top.
This is key. You will always have competition. Usually you have to take the hard hits to make it to the top. Walk through the haters, bad reviews, and not get bent out of shape.
 
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ChrisGav

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That's like asking if becoming a professional baseball player is too saturated.

It depends. Can you throw a baseball 95+ mph?

What are YOUR skills? What can YOU do for the world?
How do you discover skills you possess to provide the world? I am close to your age, I’m 20 but how did you desire to do lawn care service? Or did you do it because it was something you simply knew how to do at the time and if so, what would you say that you could provide for the world aside from that?
 

Johnny boy

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How do you discover skills you possess to provide the world? I am close to your age, I’m 20 but how did you desire to do lawn care service? Or did you do it because it was something you simply knew how to do at the time and if so, what would you say that you could provide for the world aside from that?

The answer to how you should make your money is usually based on your younger days and in your childhood. I was always a businessman but I was distracted with baseball. Nobody was like me on any of my teams. I’d pay more attention to the little businesses I was starting and would try to grow during the extra couple of hours I had after baseball practices. I would always be fascinated with money and it was my real focus, even if I spent a lot of time playing baseball.

I don’t like authority. I would always get in trouble. I was not a bad or stupid kid, but I would always say how I felt and even when I was in elementary school, having a teacher tell me what to do felt worse than eating garbage. I always thought for myself and would create things other people didn’t create, or say things nobody else would say. I once told my mom that I was either going to be homeless or rich but not in between and I’m surprised how well I must’ve known myself at that age to say that. I still think that way.

For some time I built websites for businesses and got good at it and learned about content marketing too. I got a job selling cars and learned about sales.

I picked lawn care because I saw opportunity. I saw some guys show up for 1 hour each week and I found out they got paid 400 a month to take care of that guys place. My eyes lit up. 100 an hour? I need to get in on that...especially since it’s such a basic service.

In my business the “value” is I solve the problem of needing lawn care and I give a high value pitch combined with effective marketing and sales that allows me to give that pitch to many people. Because I maximize the overall value from the customers that sign up, I get paid well from it and can afford to have an employee and grow the business while supporting myself even if I do 0% of the work. As it sits currently I could do nothing but maintain the number of customers I have now (ridiculously easy, I got them all in a couple months), keep an employee hired, and spend my days sitting on my dock overlooking the lake, and take a month long vacation in the winter when I’m getting paid the same but have no employees or costs. I could do that all because I have some efficient systems and “offer value” to my customers while delivering it to them efficiently.

I personally don’t feel that the lawn care business will do much for the world besides get big. The value I provide will eventually be going to my pocket anyways so it has a neutral effect on the world.

After it goes into my pocket though, is where things change. I’ve got big plans for what comes next after the business grows but that’s irrelevant to the conversation.

The real question is, what made you different as a kid? What would you do naturally when you were younger? Did you use to be like little Kanye west when he would watch the clock until it was time to leave school so he could run home and make some beats? Were you like Gary vaunerchuck running 7 lemonade stands when he was in elementary school?
 
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