Developing a Special Niche

By Drue Lawlor, FASID
Director of Coaching, Gail Doby Coaching & Consulting & Design Success University

Imagine yourself in a large room filled with interior designers. What would set you apart from all the others? Of course you could refer to that excellent “tag line” you’ve developed, but what makes your firm stand out? What special niche have you developed?

As we are in the midst of the fall and winter holidays, it reminded me of a niche that some interior designers have developed – and that is providing seasonal and holiday design throughout the year. But too often it seems to have become more of a conflict with their design business rather than an asset because of the small return on their investment.

If the idea appeals, you again need to develop an ideal client profile. After all, if this is going to become a division of your business then it needs to be financially worth the time invested, so your ideal client profile should identify clients who can afford to and are willing to pay for your services. After all, you will be helping them create stress-free holidays!

Where will these clients come from? Well, some will hopefully come from your existing clientele with whom you have already developed a relationship. Then there are the friends of those clients to whom you will be referred. This additional niche offers an additional service for those past clients who have no current design work going on with your firm. It can also offer a reason to refer you to their friends who may not need your design services at the moment, but when they do, will have developed a relationship through your seasonal or holiday decorating so will naturally turn to you when they do need interior design services.

If you decide to add this service to your firm, you need to be sure you will be able to handle the extra work – do you have a team in place to help – and then figure out if it makes financial sense – which means you need to come up with pricing. This particular niche lends itself to value-based fees and/or packages from which they can choose. Remember, you need to be accurate in estimating the amount of time it will take, team members you will need, and profit margin to be included.
Remember no matter how much you may enjoy holiday decorating and design, it is a part of your business and needs to increase your net profit.

Ask yourself what is the value of a stress-free holiday season for these clients? As you develop the fees/package think about including an additional opportunity for them to de-stress? You might include tea at a special hotel or tearoom in town – or an afternoon at the spa – or cocktails and/or dinner at an exceptional restaurant in town.

Plan now for next year and begin to build additional relationships that will lead to additional clients and referrals — Rotary Club, Chamber of Commerce, networking groups, etc. may all have your ideal clients just waiting for you to help relieve their holiday stress!