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Interior decorator and small-business owner Deborah Wiener, 46, has carved out a special place in her Silver Spring, Maryland, market. She doesn't just help clients pick out colorful fabrics and comfy furniture--Wiener's work is much more specific and detailed than that. The entrepreneur's 4-year-old niche company, Designing Solutions LLC, specializes in creating family-friendly interiors for her clients' homes. This includes helping customers choose furniture that can stand the wear and tear of active children, stain-resistant fabrics, and lamps and accessories that are less prone to breakage.

Before launching Designing Solutions, Wiener did her homework to see if there was really a need for the niche enterprise she was contemplating. An interior designer by trade, she took various friends and acquaintances with children out to lunch in groups of three and four. She asked them what they thought of local interior decorators, and most said they were too "fancy," offering suggestions not practical enough for people with kids.

Wiener also began writing columns for and advertising in local publications, churches and synagogues to promote her skills. The mother of two boys, ages 14 and 9, discovered through her research and marketing that there was an unfulfilled need in her community for an interior decorator who understood the needs of clients with kids running amok through their homes. This niche business, which projects more than $2 million in sales this year and has four design consultants, was born in 2001 in Wiener's home.

Getting Started

Niche businesses like Wiener's--which offer a product or service focusing on one specific aspect or customer base within an industry--are growing at a rate of 20 percent to 25 percent per year, according to Ira Davidson, director of the Small Business Development Center at Pace University in New York City. Some popular niches these days include specialized pet products, beauty salons/spas, travel agencies, back-office services, technical/online support and business coaching.

"Niche startups are good in that they offer you a chance to focus all your branding and marketing in one area and expand on those core customers as you grow your company," says Davidson. "After all, when you try to be everything to everybody, you wind up being nothing to anybody--and that's the problem with ventures that are too broad."

# posted by Medical Information : 4:05 AM