The Good Feels: Niching your Design Business
I recently was interviewed for a podcast, and while it went well, I must admit I was left feeling more confused afterward than I did when I started. I went in feeling confident and sure of myself. I had checked off all my morning routine boxes in the morning: read through prepped information, a 30-minute run, 20 minutes of meditation, and a quick journal writing exercise to vent my last-minute angst. Exhausting, right? I did it all, and that prep worked until…
Kimberly, the host, made a comment I will never forget. I’ll let you listen to it when it comes out, but basically, she said, "Beth, you need to niche completely. Go all in and stop taking jobs that don’t align with your niche."
Yes, I have been working on niching, but going all the way and only taking clients that fit entirely within my sustainable and circular parameters is big and scary. Especially when you live in an area where not everyone aligns with my environmental and social values.
“Broaden your geographic footprint, work anywhere, do more commercial work,” Kimberly told me. I can hear her suggestions as clearly as day. Let’s just say, they left me speechless.
What does fully niching actually mean? Do I need to speak up more? Not worry about what other people think? Does niching mean I need to stop acting like a jack of all trades and instead be a master and expert? Sounds a little scary, doesn’t it? Particularly for the recovering people-pleaser that I am.
Of course, as usual, after the podcast, I jump into my fear and worry mode and think about all that can happen when I choose to go all in and niche. While I know that it's human nature to react in fear first, and let me tell you, I’ve got that down to a tee. Looking at niching with a more positive lens is still a work in progress and takes a more conscientious effort, but it needs to be explored. This approach requires a list.
Here we go. This is what I’ve come up with.
By niching entirely with sustainable, circular, and regenerative interior design, in other words, designing with mother nature in mind, I will be:
Working every day within my values.
Continuing to learn and grow in an area of design that I adore. You know the saying, “When you know better, you do better.”
Meeting and developing partnerships with people who believe in the same cause and ultimately building the movement.
Serving Mother Nature and helping the greater good.
Traveling to different locations to work and connect with partners and clients.
Spreading awareness and learning from other designers/companies from around the world and their ‘tricks of the trade’.
When you lay it out like this, niching for me sounds pretty amazing. Not as scary as I had originally thought. What’s the worst that could happen? I need to pivot again. Not like I haven’t done that before. No problem. Niching it is.
Thanks, Kimberly, for calling a spade a spade and pointing out that I need to stop trying to be everyone’s type. The reality is, I’m not.
Life can be scary on one hand. On the flip side, what’s so amazing about life is that when you open yourself up to the universe and ask for feedback, it arrives on your doorstep in all different forms. For me, at that point in time, it was my Business of Design podcast. Niching, here I come and thank you universe for your help and guidance.
On that note, does anyone need an update for their business space and want a sustainable approach to the design? Or want to update your vacation property or home with sustainability in mind? I’m your girl and here to help!
Niching feels good.