Your business has a market. AKA your prospects and clients. And ideally, you’d like this group to encompass a whole lot of people.

But this desire brings to mind an adage…

You can fool some of the people some of the time. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.

This same sentiment applies to marketing your business. Not in “fooling all the people all time.” But trying to appeal to all the people all the time.

Now, this perspective may seem counter-intuitive. The wider you cast your net, the more fat fishies you’re likely to reel in, right?

Well, actually, no…

The wider the market you attempt to connect with — meaning the people with varying needs you try to reach — the more generic and less direct your messaging becomes. Until it becomes so unspecified as to be meaningless.

A Practical Example of Market Specificity…

Let’s you’re an attorney. And your primary service offerings include wills + trusts, business law, and real estate transactions.

Now, there’s certainly overlap among these items. These are transaction, rather than litigation, focused legal services. Plus, folks in business often set up trusts. And they frequently participate, at various levels, in real estate deals.

But “business law” is generic. If I was looking for an attorney to assist with a business formation process, why wouldn’t I just seek a business formation specialist?

Similarly, if I was looking to create a will or set up a trust, why not go for a will and trust specialist?

And the same goes for real estate, why not just hire a “real estate” attorney?

Meanwhile, your competitors (the specialized business attornies, the will + trust specialist, and the real estate attornies) are all eating your lunch, because they’re reeling in all the clients that skip over your generic offering and go straight to the specialized practitioner.

As you can see, trying to be too many things to too many markets is a losing proposition. Instead, your professional service business is much better served by zeroing in on your Minimum Viable Market.

This is the smallest segment of your business that you can dominate, while still guaranteeing a steady stream of well-paying clients.

How to Determine Your Minimum Viable Market

Now, you’re probably saying… “It’s all well and good to focus on a ‘Minimum Viable Market,’ but what should that market be?”

The determination process is two-fold.

First, what aspect of your business do you enjoy or excel at the most?

Let’s return to the attorney example. If you enjoy drafting wills and creating trusts, or if clients consistently rave about your services, and often refer you to family, friends, and associates — odds are this is the market you should focus on.

Secondly, who is your ideal client?

This point needs a bit of clarification. Because in marketing terms, “ideal client” can mean different things.

On one hand, ideal clients are the best candidates — speaking in terms of needs, and demographic + psychographic profiles — for your services.

But ideal clients are also those you most prefer to work with…

The clients that value your services, and don’t consistently try to beat you down on price. The clients are a joy to work with, and don’t approach every interaction with a negative attitude. The clients who understand we’re all human, and don’t assume the role of incessantly chirping critic constantly on the prowl for errors and mistakes.

And taking these considerations into mind, even if you excel in a particular specialty, or generally receive positive client feedback, but don’t actually enjoy dealing with any of these clients, it may behoove you to consider another direction.

Does This Mean You’re LOCKED Into Your Minimum Viable Market?

In a word: No!

While your minimum viable market is most definitely your starting place, it doesn’t (and rarely does) have to end there.

What’s most likely to happen is after you’ve made a name for yourself in your specialty, clients start asking for help in other areas. Also, you start receiving referrals for prospects with needs outside your specialty.

You can handle this in a couple of ways… You can take on the business, offering the caveat that this is “outside your area of expertise.” Or you can refer the client or prospect to another specialist.

Regardless of your approach in the short term, if these requests and referrals persist, it may be worth expanding your service offerings.

Need Help Determining Your Minimum Viable Market?

I got you! So, let’s chat and see what we can suss out… 310.466.7893 | ryan@ryananys.com