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But how would one compete with already established competitors when it comes to domain knowledge? I mean... picking up a niche market may be easy, but then you

But how would one compete with already established competitors when it comes to domain knowledge? I mean... picking up a niche market may be easy, but then you must know it better than those who are already there.

halayli 14y ago
You have to pick a niche that you think your knowledge in this domain is an advantage over the current competitors or allows you to compete at the same level. Don't think you'll ever enter a market where you'll be on your own with no competitors and everyone is paying you. That won't happen. If this happened then you are creating a market and soon after you'll have competitors. Don't be afraid of competition. Competition is at the core of running a business.
- alberich 14y ago
  That is the kind of thing I would like to see in case studies. I always see articles about starting the next facebook or something, the 'sexy' startups. But when it comes to building stuff to niche markets like, say, agriculture or logistics, theres not much said. I'm actually trying to find something for myself, though acquiring the domain knowledge is something the puzzles me. How do one gets, as was suggested, immersed on a given field, knowing that no one will pay you just to learn. I studied computer science, but this just teaches one how to use technology to build stuff. Now I'm on the weird position of not knowing what to build :D
  - HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
    People often pay you to learn, but that's not the point. To answer the question you posed in the earlier post about domain knowledge: you focus smaller and smaller until you find something where you can become an expert in a reasonable time. e.g., "agriculture" is not a niche. Breeding management software for Silver-laced Wyandottes is a niche. You reduce the huge term "agriculture" by going agriculture->poultry->poultry husbandry->poultry breeding->breeding-chickens->breeding-Silvery-laced-Wyandottes. Now, is there a market for that product I picked out of the air? I don't know, but I suspect, based on my knowledge of the field, that there could very well be. And you could own it if you wanted to.
    - alberich 14y ago
      thanks for the explanation, I liked your example :)
tgrass 14y ago
One learns a niche by immersing oneself in it.
- alberich 14y ago
  So it is not really a practical option, considering that you need to make money and the process of entering a new market just to learn may take several years, until you learn enough to build anything close to already established competitors. edit: unless the competitors suck really bad, of course.
  - tgrass 14y ago
    Disagree. I studied civil engineering and have been in it for five years and am presently building software that accomplishes the OP's goals (so far in theory). The same advice holds for a writer of nonfiction. Don't study writing, study another field so you actually have something to write about.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
    Nope. I have a lawn sprayer. Like most of them, it's manually controlled. Big agricultural sprayers have a huge range of automation. I want automatic control of my sprayer, so in the process of building one for myself, I'm becoming knowledgeable in the field: it just takes a few weeks. Eventually, I'll have something that scratched my itch and I can look around and see how many people have the same itch and sell it to them if it's worthwhile. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're either in school or haven't been out very long. It's truly amazing how little research goes into most products put on the market.
    - alberich 14y ago
      I've spent some time working on jobs as a programmer, but the companies weren't all that great... to be honest, I had the chance to take a somewhat close look at the infrastructure of one of the largest retailers from Brazil, who happened to be one of our clients, and it was scary how it was so poorly designed and implemented - it was something like a tower of babel, there was lots of third-party workers and no one was really responsible for anything. Now I'm trying to do a PhD on security for distributed systems, though I'm having trouble to find it inspiring. I have a recurring feeling that this is not for me, but when I think about quiting it to start something for myself I have trouble thinking what could be usefull for other people, for those who use it as a tool and not as a research object. It's a bit frustrating :)

halayli 14y ago

You have to pick a niche that you think your knowledge in this domain is an advantage over the current competitors or allows you to compete at the same level. Don't think you'll ever enter a market where you'll be on your own with no competitors and everyone is paying you. That won't happen. If this happened then you are creating a market and soon after you'll have competitors. Don't be afraid of competition. Competition is at the core of running a business.

alberich 14y ago
That is the kind of thing I would like to see in case studies. I always see articles about starting the next facebook or something, the 'sexy' startups. But when it comes to building stuff to niche markets like, say, agriculture or logistics, theres not much said. I'm actually trying to find something for myself, though acquiring the domain knowledge is something the puzzles me. How do one gets, as was suggested, immersed on a given field, knowing that no one will pay you just to learn. I studied computer science, but this just teaches one how to use technology to build stuff. Now I'm on the weird position of not knowing what to build :D
- HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
  People often pay you to learn, but that's not the point. To answer the question you posed in the earlier post about domain knowledge: you focus smaller and smaller until you find something where you can become an expert in a reasonable time. e.g., "agriculture" is not a niche. Breeding management software for Silver-laced Wyandottes is a niche. You reduce the huge term "agriculture" by going agriculture->poultry->poultry husbandry->poultry breeding->breeding-chickens->breeding-Silvery-laced-Wyandottes. Now, is there a market for that product I picked out of the air? I don't know, but I suspect, based on my knowledge of the field, that there could very well be. And you could own it if you wanted to.
  - alberich 14y ago
    thanks for the explanation, I liked your example :)

tgrass 14y ago

One learns a niche by immersing oneself in it.

alberich 14y ago
So it is not really a practical option, considering that you need to make money and the process of entering a new market just to learn may take several years, until you learn enough to build anything close to already established competitors. edit: unless the competitors suck really bad, of course.
- tgrass 14y ago
  Disagree. I studied civil engineering and have been in it for five years and am presently building software that accomplishes the OP's goals (so far in theory). The same advice holds for a writer of nonfiction. Don't study writing, study another field so you actually have something to write about.
- HeyLaughingBoy 14y ago
  Nope. I have a lawn sprayer. Like most of them, it's manually controlled. Big agricultural sprayers have a huge range of automation. I want automatic control of my sprayer, so in the process of building one for myself, I'm becoming knowledgeable in the field: it just takes a few weeks. Eventually, I'll have something that scratched my itch and I can look around and see how many people have the same itch and sell it to them if it's worthwhile. I'm going to go out on a limb and say you're either in school or haven't been out very long. It's truly amazing how little research goes into most products put on the market.
  - alberich 14y ago
    I've spent some time working on jobs as a programmer, but the companies weren't all that great... to be honest, I had the chance to take a somewhat close look at the infrastructure of one of the largest retailers from Brazil, who happened to be one of our clients, and it was scary how it was so poorly designed and implemented - it was something like a tower of babel, there was lots of third-party workers and no one was really responsible for anything. Now I'm trying to do a PhD on security for distributed systems, though I'm having trouble to find it inspiring. I have a recurring feeling that this is not for me, but when I think about quiting it to start something for myself I have trouble thinking what could be usefull for other people, for those who use it as a tool and not as a research object. It's a bit frustrating :)