Geraldine Carter

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Can I niche based on accounting software? ​

Geraldine Carter

“Can I niche based on accounting software? I would love to have clients on Xero only, and a lot of people come to me because they are looking for an accountant who is Xero-certified.”

…

Niching facilitates three things:

  1. Marketing

  2. Sales

  3. Delivery

It’s possible, but consider:

  1. Your buyers are unlikely to congregate based on accounting software. How many plain old business owners are at any given Intuit conference? How many buyers are sophisticated enough to know which accounting platform is best for their business?

  2. While it may generate leads through the “Xero-Certified-Website,” those leads are likely less valuable than leads generated by providing deep expertise in a specific industry.

  3. “We’ll help you understand your numbers and make better business decisions because we know the construction business inside and out” is more compelling to a buyer than, “We use Xero – it’s better because ____.”

  4. Watch out for buyers who self-diagnose. They are unlikely to completely understand their problem, and for them to come to you with “I want you because you use this software” is like the patient who goes to a physician because she heard he prescribes Perplexapro. “I saw an ad for it on TV and wondered if it would work for my symptoms.”

  5. Popular platforms might not be around in 5 years. Think: Google Circles. If you hitch your niche-wagon to a platform that goes down in flames, then what?

Indeed, using only one accounting software may smooth out your back-end systems, which falls under #3, Delivery. But from a marketing and sales perspective, it’s not your strongest niche option.

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