Narrow your target market and differentiate your business for success

Specialization is key to small-business success, writes Rhonda Abrams in USA Today, who advocates choosing a specific customer niche to narrow your target market and make the most of your resources. She gives six ways to narrow your market by segments that include geography, industry, demographics work specialty, unique knowledge and style.

To me the two most important items are work specialty and unique knowledge. As it becomes increasingly easier to source specialists from around the world at ever diminishing costs, it is important for businesses to strongly differentiate the products and services. The more unique or specialized the skill or service, the greater opportunity to maximize revenue and build pricing power.