What Changed My Mind About Niche Scoring (Non-Technical)

I used to pick niches by what I found fascinating. The exciting niche won every time. Two pivots and several thousand dollars in contractor invoices later, I changed my mind.

What Did Not Change My Mind

The pivots. I rationalized each. The first because the audience was hard to reach. The second because pricing did not work.

What Did

A friend with no skin in the game scored five niches I was considering. Their numbers were 5 points lower on builder-fit. The exciting niche I had committed to scored fourth. The boring niche I had dismissed scored first.

I switched. Product worked in four months. Pivot count stopped at two. Contractor budget went toward the right niche the first time.

The Realization

I had been scoring builder-fit by interest, reachability by "they exist on a platform." Both wrong. The friend scored both honestly. Their version was right.

What I Did Differently After

Every project since: outside re-score before committing to a build. The friction of the second opinion catches my interest-bias inflation that I cannot catch myself.

What This Means for You

If you are reading this and have not had the scar yet, the arguments will not move you the way the scar would. The scar arrives. Cheaper to take the lesson on faith.