A Goldilocks Method to Choosing Your Niche

Years ago, we went shopping for shoes as a family. My sister strode into the store, looked around, and declared which pair she wanted within 5 minutes. I stared at her in horror--how could she decide so fast without seeing if they pinch your toes or asking if there are other colors available or estimating how long they would last?

I had a PROCESS. A carefully constructed process that narrowed down the shoe choice based on factors like comfort, life span, function, and style. The sneakers I chose lasted two years, but I spent an hour and a half deciding. My sister chose haphazardly, getting blisters (and new shoes) the next day. 

It can hurt if you choose the wrong thing for the wrong reasons, but it can also hurt to make decisions too slowly. How do you find a happy medium? By using the Goldilocks Method:

1. Read a few real estate niche lists and write down your intuition.
   1. What looks dope? Would you do it even if no paid you to do it?
   2. Which responsibilities of the niche would you be superb at?
      Does it work with the lifestyle you have and the one that you want to have?
2. What is the need in the market you're pursuing?
   1. Are there inefficiencies?
   2. Is there a shortage or oversupply of something? 
      Have you heard or seen a pattern?
   3. What is one thing that everyone is ignoring?
3. Ask your close friends and family if the responsibilities of the niches you wrote down sound like things you would actually follow through on, enjoy doing, and excel at.
   
   1. If not, ask for explanations and/or suggestions.
4. Get feedback from real people working (and doing well) in those niches.
   1. What's the most challenging part of what they do?
   2. What resources do they use (technological, psychological, etc.)?
   3. What is the one thing that makes someone successful at this niche?
   4. What has surprised them?
   5. Is there anything you can do to thank them for their time?
5. Reflect, reflect, reflect.
   1. Do you get your best thoughts in the shower or when you do yoga?
   2. Are there times in the past that you chose to do something even when you knew deep down that you didn't actually want to do it? What were the results?
   3. Do you make better decisions when you have a few days or a few weeks?
6. Create a weighted table like the one below and score each niche.
   1. Score each niche from 1 to 5, 1 being "not at all" and 5 being "definitely"
   2. % Weight is how important that factor is to you on a scale of 1% to 100%, with 1% being "not important at all" and 100% being "super important"
   3. In the example table below, for Niche 1, you would add (0.75 x 3) + (0.80 x 4) + (1 x 3) + (0.30 x 4) + (0.6 x 5) = 12.65.
   4. Since the "Total" for Niche 1 is the highest, it's the winner!
7. Take a deep breath and START INVESTING!

Factors% WeightNiche 1Niche 2Niche 3Fun 75%351Expertise80%434Market Need100%325Feedback (friends/family)30%442Feedback (other REI)60%534Other
(another factor that is really important to you!)
TOTAL12.6511.1511.95

Remember that you and your circumstances will change over time. Come back to this annually and tweak as needed. 

How did you decide? What do you wish you would've known when you first started? Is there anything missing from my process? I'd love to hear your comments below!

Thanks for reading, have fun, & get some deals done!
#fromperfectiontoprogress