Let Market Demand Choose Your L&D Niche

3 Minute Read Time

Most people think "niche" means picking a label.

But a niche isn't just a category like "SaaS," "Hospitals," or "Corporate."

A niche is a group of humans with shared traits and a shared, urgent problem they actually want solved.

That urgency is the spark. No spark, no sale.

The Clarity That Changes Everything

Every single thing you'll do in your consulting business relies on understanding the person you're trying to help.

That's what niche clarity gives you:

• Intentionality in your messaging
• Confidence in your conversations
• Precision in your problem-solving

Without it, you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping it sticks.

I once knew a guy who built an entire consulting offer around an "L&D" methodology.

The deck was stunning. The frameworks were research-backed. He even had custom rubrics and performance mapping tools.

But there was one problem:

His niche? Nonexistent.

He posted content that impressed other L&D pros. He blogged in industry jargon. He positioned himself to win applause from peers.

No clear problem. No real buyers.

Just endless networking with like-minded L&D pros.

He had science. He had systems. But he was solving an imaginary problem.

Eventually, he burned out and scrapped the business.

Moral of the story?

If you're solving a problem nobody feels, you don't have a business. You have a hobby.

You Don't Choose The Ecosystem

You're not creating demand. You're not forcing a market into existence.

You're entering a pre-existing ecosystem.

Imagine you're a species trying to survive in the wild.

You don't get to design the jungle. You adapt to it.

You find your niche in the food chain.

Maybe you're a scavenger. Maybe you're an apex predator.

Either way, you survive by finding a role already supported by the environment.

Try to play a role that the environment doesn't need? You starve.

The same applies to your consulting business, especially when you're fresh out of your corporate L&D role.

The Smarter Path

Flip it.

Study the ecosystem: the industry or market you're considering.

Identify where demand already exists.

Then adapt your offer, your skill set, and your positioning to serve that need.

This is how you carve out your space.

You don't try to dominate the jungle. You find a clearing no one is protecting—and you make it your territory.

The Bottom Line

The market doesn't care what you want to sell.

It only responds to what it already needs, wants, or fears.

So don't waste time trying to build demand from scratch.

Instead, spot existing demand.

It's faster, smarter, and it puts you in harmony with the ecosystem... instead of at war with it.