I’ve always had a dream of creating a brand.

When I was younger, I wanted to start a clothing business with my friends. It was a cool idea, but it felt unrealistic while I was still navigating high school. From there, I moved on to physical ideas — a cleaning company, construction, car detailing. Ideas would come and the planning would begin before they fizzled out at the first sign of a roadblock.

I didn’t stop there. I tried digital business, drop-shipping, AI app creation; I made it as far as opening an online shop — then cancelled it the moment my free trial ended, having made zero sales.

Of course, one would think that I’d take the hint and realise I probably wasn’t cut out for the founder lifestyle, but I refused to give up.  I was convinced that my issue was that the idea was wrong, or someone was already doing it. It took me ages to realise my problem was actually much simpler: I just hadn't explored my niche.

Finding Your Niche

A niche is a specialised area within a larger market or group. Finding one’s niche comes down to the individual and a few specific traits.

First, the individual’s interest. What are their passions? What drives them and motivates them to succeed? For me, I have always been motivated by the idea of constantly bettering myself and improving my life in any way possible, and also becoming a role model for others. Eventually it hit me that self-improvement wasn’t just something I enjoyed doing for me, but would also enjoy creating more for others. For you it could be something completely different. You might be passionate about understanding money, caring for the environment, pushing yourself physically. Whatever your interest is, it will make up a large part of your niche.

An individual’s niche is also made up of their areas of strengths. What are they good at? What skills are they regularly improving? I'm not saying I've got self-improvement figured out — I haven't. But my pursuit of growth means I often sharpen my skills of personal development, as well as writing and creation, which I then use to promote my passion. Your skills could be anything, literally anything, and they play a role in not only finding your niche, but also learning to express it through you.

Once you’ve found your niche, it makes achieving your ambitions so much easier. Learning becomes more motivating, creating is more inspiring. You find yourself with more time for the thing you love and are good at, because you actually want to be doing it.

I challenge you to take time to explore two questions for yourself:

Whatever you build from that overlap — that's not just a business. That's your art.

- Nate