HOW TO NICHE DOWN AS A MULTI-PASSIONATE ENTREPRENEUR – AND THE #1 THING THAT’S SECRETLY SABOTAGING YOUR SUCCESS IN BUSINESS

My Take On Niching Down, Without Sacrificing Any Of Your Passions. Trust Me – You’re Going To Want To Read This.

Niching down.

This topic is a hot topic with new – and even established entrepreneurs.

Pick one person you’d like to serve through your business model.

Pick one problem you’d like to solve for your person.

Build an offer around it.

Profit.

Simple right?

So why do entrepreneurs get stuck trying to ‘figure out their niche’ for months – and some even years (and ultimately never end up putting their offers out into the world)?

In today’s session, I’m going to break down why the traditional means of ‘niching down’ feels like wearing someone else’s underwear – and precisely what to do if you’re a multi-passionate entrepreneur who just can’t seem to fit their entire life’s purpose into one 2-liner “I help“ statement.

The purpose of nailing this?

Getting a competitive edge in your market by speaking directly to the hearts of your future clients, and leaving your competition in the dust.

And – finally getting off the shiny object hamster wheel – and into peace and profitability.

But first – a mindset shift to set the stage.

WHY THE NEVER-ENDING PURSUIT OF PASSION AND ‘PURPOSE’ IS KILLING YOUR BUSINESS

When we’re trying to build a business, and position our brands with passion and a distorted version of purpose at the forefront of what we do – we’re guaranteed to feel like we’re wearing someone else’s underwear at some point in our journey. (Kinda gross right?)

The problem with choosing passion as the foundation on which you build your business is that, as we’ve covered, passion is a “Strong and barely controllable emotion.”

The problem with building a business on the foundation of emotion?

Well, It’s kinda rocky.

Emotions change – not daily, weekly or monthly, but sometimes in a moment – and are often entirely dependent on our external circumstances (unless you’re a zen monk who has transcended emotional reactivity altogether – in which case, you probably don’t need this article).

Let’s look at a practical example of passion in action:

Let’s say you’re a new coach in pursuit of a career that is loaded with passion and purpose.

You’ve just found yourself in an incredible love relationship. You’re really excited about love, and the relationship rollercoaster you’re on. You’re reading all the books about soulmates, twin flames and intimacy. Consuming endless content and feeling fired up about sharing this feeling with the world. This must be your purpose.

In the heat of this emotion, it’s easy to decide that working in this field – and positioning yourself as an authority in this space is going to deliver passion, purpose and profit for many years to come.

But what happens when the relationship comes to an abrupt end in a year’s time?

Suddenly – you’re not quite as excited to talk about relationships anymore. You start to FEEL like an imposter.

And your entire business and positioning in your market has started to FEEL like a badly fitted shoe. (Or like wearing someone else’s underwear)

Why?

Because you built your business on a feeling instead of a firm foundation.

And you begin the process of soul-searching to find what sparks that flame of passion in your experience right now – only to repeat the same process at a later stage.

Your journey might look like this:

Now before you click off because you think I’m the anti-passion police – hang around for a moment because I’m going to show you how to turn real passion into the firm foundation you need to build a thriving business that lasts.

But first –

DON’T MAKE THIS CRITICAL MISTAKE

Another really important mistake I see entrepreneurs making around the world is trying to encompass all that they are when they position themselves and their brands in their markets.

This is especially true for entrepreneurs who are driven to create an ‘impact’ – which is another buzzword that’s thrown around endlessly.

Sidebar: The truth is you can make an impact without ever being passionate about what you’re doing. Just look at the guy who invented toilet paper. Life would be pretty interesting without it – but I bet you that this human being wasn’t walking around life thinking “Man, I’m so fired up about helping people wipe their butts.”

Basing your business on who you ARE as a human being, much like basing a business on a foundation of emotions – is a surefire way to build your house on a sandy foundation.

Why?

Because just like emotions, human beings are constantly changing and evolving.

The person you were a year ago is not the same person you are today.

And trying to package up all of who you ARE into a brand is a recipe for emotional turmoil and a barrier to progress.

Why?

Because it’s simply impossible.

This is why building a brand as an external entity that is both separate from you and connected to your values, and goals is essential.

Think about it –

Imagine that timeless brands like Coca-Cola or Nike changed every single time a shareholder’s passion changed. Imagine Coca-Cola’s branding changing from red to blue – because the CEO wasn’t feeling ‘aligned’ with the colour red anymore because his now ex-wife loved the colour.

Companies that have built lasting and sustainable legacies understand something integral.

Business is strategic – not personal.

Building a business on a fleeting emotion is like building a house of cards.

One change of the wind – and you’ll knock it right over.

THE CAVEAT: YOU’RE NOT A ROBOT

With all that being said, you’re not a robot.

And it’s normal to have a desire for your brand to feel like ‘you’.

It’s admirable to have big dreams for the change you’d like to see in the world.

And what a wonderful thing it is to be caught in the throes of passion with your latest interest – devouring all the content you can on a specific topic because it delights your spirit.

So how do we find the middle ground?

One where passion and strategy can co-exist inside your business?

Here’s my take on niching down in a way that’s harmonious – even for the multi-passionate creative:

LEAD WITH THE PROBLEM YOU SOLVE – AND LET PASSION FUEL THE ROCKET

Human beings are driven by 4 core pillars in life:

Health
Wealth (and status)
Love (and sex)
and Happiness.

These four pillars drive every purchasing decision anyone has ever made – from buying a bar of chocolate to investing in a business coach.

Each one of these pillars drives a goal that human beings are trying to achieve.

And the pursuit of goals always comes with challenges and obstacles along the journey.

The clever entrepreneur focuses on branding themselves as someone who helps a specific kind of human get closer to one of these key goals by providing them with a unique blueprint, service or product to help them bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.

But how do you choose?

You look for the place where you can make the highest contribution in the world.

And the funny thing is, the area that you’ve pursued growth in most relentlessly in your own life, is often the area that you’re most able to powerfully support others to master.

But Megan, what if I’m passionate about all of these things? How do I cram all my millions of interests into this positioning?

We start by thinking of the problem we solve (or the goal we help others to achieve) as the umbrella that houses all of our interests and passions.

The goal we are helping others achieve becomes the ‘lens’ through which we filter all our other interests.

Let’s take a look at a practical example:

My business.

When I was getting started on my journey – I found niching down to be a nightmare. Here is a list of some of my interests and qualifications that I was trying to cram into one cohesive brand:

Marketing strategy

Branding Psychology

Trauma Release

Work Energy Healing & Shamanic Medicine

Business systems strategy

Writing

Web design

Dog training

Baking

Nutrition

Fashion

Minimalism & Professional Organizing

In one of my earliest attempts at packing all my interests into one brand and offer, I was literally offering brand design and tarot readings in the same package. (**facepalm).

So what changed?

How did I build a sought-after brand and booked out business while still pursuing all these interests?

Did I cut them all out and pursue a business for profit without passion?

Nope.

Here’s what my process looked like (and by the way, I would have given my left kidney to have had what I’m about to share with you when I was first getting started in business)

1) Get clear on the problem I wanted to help people solve (or the overarching goal I wanted to help them achieve).

In my case – this was making money as an entrepreneur. (Why did I choose this? Because this was the core problem I was also on a journey of solving in my own experience. I was simply a little further ahead in terms of solving this problem than the people I wanted to help)

2) Stop changing my branding and niche based on my interests – and instead focus on pursuing my passions and interests as a means to help people move closer to their ONE goal (making more money.)

This meant that I stopped changing my Facebook bio from “Energy Healer” to “Business coach – and instead started focusing on figuring out how to use everything that I was excited about to help people achieve their ONE goal. (Making more money and escaping their corporate cages)

Here are a few examples of how this has looked for me over the years:

Interest: Human Psychology & Trauma Work

I took my interest in human psychology and applied it to money. I helped people have huge breakthroughs around money by helping them shift their trauma and limiting beliefs in this area. The result = they made more while working less.

The alternative ‘shiny-object’ path I could have chosen:

Rebranding myself as an emotional wellness coach or quitting my business entirely to become a registered trauma counsellor.

Interest: Writing

I took my love of writing and learned how to create powerful content talking about all the things I loved – through the lens of helping people to build profitable businesses and increase their wealth.

The alternative ‘shiny-object’ path I could have chosen:

Quitting my business to go and live in the woods and write books about human potential.

Interest: Minimalism & Professional Organizing

I took my love of organizing and applied the principles of organizing to support people to streamline their businesses and free up their money – and their time. The result? They made more while working less.

The alternative ‘shiny-object’ path I could have chosen:

Closed my current business and rebranded as a professional organizer – and given Marie Kondo a run for her money. (in my dreams)

The joy of this process is that for the past few years – my business has had the same market positioning:

Helping entrepreneurs to make more while working less.

By taking this approach to niching down and running my business I’ve been able to do the following:


* Create a successful fully booked highly profitable coaching business (that’s still growing)

* Pursue my interests as they excite me

* Create meaningful change in other people’s lives

* Get off the ‘shiny object’ hamster wheel, get focused and see real growth in my business over time because I stopped stopping and starting

* Tame the multi=passionate mess inside my head and release myself from the pressure of trying to build a brand that is a perfect reflection of everything that I am

And my hope is, that in doing this work you’ll be able to experience some of these – and more.

IN SUMMARY

Passion, purpose and a strategic, growth-centric business model get to co-exist beautifully.

JOURNALING & REFLECTION

Here are some of my favorite reflection questions from today’s topic:

* How have I been derailed by following my ‘passion’ in the past? How have my passions changed over the years?

* What is the big overarching goal that I would love to support others to achieve? Where have I already embodied achieving this kind of result in my own journey?

* Where am I using ‘passion’ as a means to jump-ship and bypass doing the uncomfortable work that’s required to grow?

* Am I ready to release the need to use my brand to express every facet of who I am? What will this free me up to do more of?