What good opportunities can you spot

Today, you can find endless varieties in Walmart and Sam's Clubs. We borrow the term from television. When cable television was in its infancy, its broadcasters realized they all shouldn't try to reach mass audiences. For all their faults, the three major networks back then did a fairly good job of serving the widest audience possible. The solution for cable operators was to narrowcast, or gear shows on a given channel to a particular audience.

Thus so, you have channels that show nothing but sports or movies or even the weather or content related to specific religions. If you are up against a wide number of competitors in your field, and the potential audience is huge, you might be better off aiming for one specific segment instead of trying to reach everyone.

We now have stores that sell just light bulbs or batteries. It seems there's no segment too small to support a company or even an industry. Think big. Instead of carrying just one product, carry everything related to it. Think of the home improvement stores like Lowe's or Home Depot. Think Small. While huge stores, such as Lowe's, can offer more merchandise, they can't offer the depth of selection in each line that a true connoisseur demands.

And they usually don't have a trained staff to offer advice. A popular incarnation of this approach today is to take an Internet-only product into brick-and-mortar retail for access to a much larger audience.

The same concept applied to every startup which test-markets its product in a local area, then scales the business for national or global access. Take a broad-appeal product into a niche. With the widespread popularity of social media, I now see many businesses looking at niche market interest groups, such as sites for travelers, hunters, cancer support, and crafts.

In television, this is called narrow-casting, to gear specific channels to a special audience, like golf, old shows, or history. Maximize the selection of products offered think big. Online, the same concept has been implemented by Amazon and Alibaba. It allows customers to complete their shopping in one place, and businesses get the value of volume and common processes.

Focus on in-depth expertise and support think small. They specialize in the depth of their selections that a true connoisseur demands.

Online sites now advertise customized designs and personal fits. Specifically, you need to be able to identify a problem or gap, and come up with an innovative solution. You are promotion-focused when you think about what you might gain if you are successful — how you might end up better off. Prevention focus is good for many things — careful planning, accuracy, reliability, and thoroughness, just to name a few.

Tumasjan and Braun asked U. They were provided with comments from real focus groups that dealt with five kinds of problems associated with footwear durability, comfort, performance, style, and price. Lorelei Laird is a Los Angeles-based writer specializing in the law.

Managing Your Business. Learning to identify product gaps and convert them into opportunities will help your business grow while showing your customers how innovative you are. As some businesses begin to open their doors during and after the COVID pandemic, myriad questions persist about what life will look like in the "new normal.

Your market has suddenly shifted or dried up. What can you do? Change your product, your distribution channel, your employees, or your marketing message. Small business owners do a lot with a little but, in lean times, cost-cutting becomes the highest priority. Learn some new and creative ways to lower costs while making sure you get maximum value for each dollar you spend for your company.

Even the best disaster recovery or business continuity plan may not have prepared businesses for the changes COVID caused. If you're suddenly faced with keeping a remote team calm, engaged and productive, use this expert advice.

When you form an LLC, you likely need to receive an income from the business. Here are several options available for setting regular payments to yourself. Marketing Your Business. Affiliate marketing can help small businesses earn money by selling the products of others or by reaching new customers for products they own or create.

Here's how it works and how you can take advantage of it. Diversifying sources of income helps keep companies profitable, and finding a new revenue stream can help your peace of mind. Follow these tips for creating extra revenue streams for your business.