Tag: niche

A hedgehog or a fox?

Are you a hedgehog or a fox? This is based on Stephen Covey’s writing…

While it is naturally appealing to be a fox (to be good at many things, but not world class in anything), should our goal be to become a hedgehog (be laser focused on mastering one thing, being world class at it, and benefitting from it)?

The idea here is to go deep in one particular subject. Read about it, write about it, talk with others who have already done it (mentors), talk with others who are on the same path (mastermind), listen to books and podcasts, and teach it (to those “behind” you on the path and to those who are not yet traveling on that path).

Learn even more by experiencing it yourself…You’ll make mistakes along the way, but as long as you take the time to figure out what went wrong (or what you think went wrong) and then get back up and try again – you’ll be better for it. In fact, some people think failing quickly and failing often is the key to success.

Because we are amateurs when we first set out to do anything, we don’t know what we don’t know. Nothing will ever be perfect and if we wait for perfection to get started then we’ll never get started. There is no perfect time. The “perfect” time to get started is right now…

If we do finally decide to take action, despite all of our preparation (aka procrastination), we will still make mistakes. So it’s best to get those mistakes out of the way and “fail” quickly! Because, in reality, it’s only a failure if you give up. Otherwise it’s only a bump in the road.

Go deep. Master one subject then try to expand to other related areas after you’ve truly grasped one. If you spread yourself too thin, you might be able to become a Jack of all trades and a master of none. But that will take a long time. If you focus on one (like a laser), you can “quickly” master it and move onto another subject if your heart desires.

Being a specialist, not a generalist

You need to specialize, to master one thing before trying to become everything to everyone. If your business/company is mediocre at ten things, but not great at anything, the only time people will choose you is if it is convenient. Otherwise they will go to the specialist.

For example, say your best attribute is that your price is low. It’s low, but not the lowest (maybe it’s the third lowest in town). For those customers who only care about price, they’re not going to go to you. They will go to the lowest price in town. There is minimal benefit to being the third lowest competitor in town. Instead, what you’ve done by trying to out-Walmart Walmart is cut your prices to the point that you have no profit and no margin for error.

Choose to specialize. Once you become a master of one thing and you’re known for it, you can more easily retain customers looking for that and then slowly expand and try to capture another specialized market. But remember, when you expand, choose only one area at a time to grow towards and master that next area. You can never become everything to everyone, so don’t try to be.