here in the world will you find the best Irish coffee? Dublin? Cork? County Down?

Wrong. It’s San Francisco, of course!

The Buena Vista Café in San Francisco, CA perfected their “secret” Irish coffee recipe back in 1952 after a visit to the Shannon airport in Ireland, and they now sell over 2,000 Irish coffees a day. They also understand the power of owning a niche…and niches don’t get much more obscure than serving the best Irish coffee, right in the heart of San Francisco.

So, what does a coffee business have to do with you as a pet business owner?

Well, finding and owning a niche is one of the easiest ways to stand out from your competitors, and it positions you as an industry expert. You just need to decide what to niche your business down to. Could you care for only small dogs? Big dogs? Gun dogs? Squishy-faced breeds?

For sure, it’s scary to niche down, and you may also think by narrowing down your market you are cutting off lots of potential clients, and in some ways you are. But remember the Buena Vista Café? They also sell lots of other coffees, teas, desserts and other food items, and they even have a gift shop where you can buy T-shirts, caps and all kinds of other cool (and highly profitable) merchandise. Niching down allows you to stand out and attract the people who will be interested in your specialized service.

Here’s an example…

Let’s imagine I am a responsible dog owner who has just acquired an English Pointer and I am looking for a pet care business to help me out. So, I do some research, and despite the fact that there are lots of pet businesses in my town, the choice is surprisingly easy. One business shines out like a beacon to me. I can either choose one of the regular, run-of-the-mill pet services (who offer very similar services which vary a little in price, but not by much), or I can choose Bill’s Birddog Daycare Club, where one of Bill’s Birddog Butlers picks up all the gundogs they look after in the Birddog Mobile and takes them to Bill’s Birddog Academy, where everything is themed to appeal to birddog owners, including breed-specific activities that are perfectly suited to match my Pointer’s character.

Well, if I love my Pointer and care deeply about the type of care he gets, then obviously I’m going to pick the specialist operation. Not only that, but I will also be prepared to pay more for such an exclusive and bespoke service. This leads nicely to the other main reason you should consider niching in your pet business…

Niching down and specializing allows you to charge much more for your services which, by their specialist nature, are seen as more personal and exclusive. Also, owning a niche makes it much easier for you to offer additional products and services that are specific to your target market so you don’t have to worry about carrying loads of stock to cater to every breed.

It’s way easier to stand out from the crowd when you own a niche, too. While everyone else is offering “Great service at a fair price,” you are offering “Breed-specific pet care,” and this gives you a USP that no one else has.

Enough about birddogs though. There are many other options for you to ponder. Maybe your niche isn’t about the type of dog, but instead the experience you offer. Or, perhaps you’ll niche by the type of owner your service is best at helping.

Here are a few more things to consider before you niche…

Obviously, when you niche down to a breed, you want to make sure there are enough dogs in your area in that niche. But, it shouldn’t be hard to research what the most popular breeds of dogs are where you operate.

Another way to identify a potential niche is to look at your current client list and see what numbers you have of each dog. Do you already have on your books a high percentage of a certain type of dog, or is there a commonality between some of your dogs’ owners? Do you already have a reputation for being specialized in a certain area, and is that a niche you are passionate about and would love to learn more about? Well, then that could be the niche for you!

Dom Hodgson is Europe’s leading pet business coach, and is known as the Pet Biz Wiz. His mission is to help pet service providers create superior customer service systems that enable them to build an impactful and profitable pet business. Dom has written over nine books and is a much in-demand speaker. You can instantly download a free copy of his latest book “How to Disnify Your Doggy Daycare Business” by going to www.petbusinessmarketing.com/daycaremagic