Niche markets provide lucrative opportunities for starting or expanding your consulting business, and many have staying power.
In the IT industry, VoIP is rapidly being adopted by businesses as a cost-saving phone/Internet technology. Far from peaking, VoIP is a winning niche for savvy IT consultants. Also look to fast-growing but underserved niches, like long-term care consulting. When one trend runs its course? You can head in another direction; but try to stay within your general field of expertise to ease the transition.
Discover more hot trends and put your expertise to work in one of these growing industries.
1. Eco-Friendly
Businesses and individuals are striving to be more conscious when it comes to the environment. In many cases, increased regulations and legislation for industry are driving the demand for eco-compliance. The result is that businesses are hiring consultants to review internal policies and procedures, and to assist in identifying and meeting regulation requirements. Having "green" expertise can lead to more green for your bottom-line.
2. Life Management
Baby Boomers, the market of consumers aged 55 years and older, have long been a target market for different services and products. There are millions of people that fall into this age demographic, making for a nice-sized base of customers. And, this market of consumers generally has a substantial amount of disposable income and aren't opposed to spending it. Life Manager Consultants have keyed into these factors, and are offering their services to help Baby Boomers enjoy more life experiences. In other words, consultants assist in identifying and pursuing personal life goals. It's a growing market for consultants.
3. E-commerce
As the growth of the Internet has exploded, so have the number of businesses that want to expand online. It's become common to see a range of businesses make the move, including traditional brick-and-mortar retail businesses that start selling products online, or a smaller business that begins listing additional inventory on eBay. If you have experience selling products and services online, there's a great demand for your consulting services. Companies especially need help in learning how to sell on eBay and how to set up and a manage a full ecommerce site with shopping carts and payment systems.
4. IT Security
Are you an Internet security guru? Do you know all the latest software for protecting against computer viruses and phishing scams? If so, it's time to put that knowledge to use consulting with small businesses and individuals in protecting their IT networks. Experts in securing wireless networks are in particularly high demand now.
5. SMB Expertise
Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) are a highly sought after customer base for many Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies - and for good reason. The SMB market is one of the fastest growing and has been targeted as a lucrative market for a variety of products and industries. However, many of the larger companies wanting to penetrate the SMB space know very little about small businesses and how to market to them. For a consultant with SMB expertise, offering your SMB know-how to Fortune 500 firms could prove lucrative for your business.
