On this morning’s WJR Business Beat, Jeff shares an important adage for all aspiring entrepreneurs: find a niche and fill it! To reiterate the importance of finding a niche, Jeff discusses the startup success story of Avery Stempel, founder of Collar City Mushrooms, a store in Troy, New York, that’s devoted entirely to selling mushrooms.
Tune in to the Business Beat, below, to learn more about the importance of starting a business in a niche you’re passionate about:
“Certainly, at the root of whatever niche you pick, it must be authentic, (and) a passion of yours… Start a business in a niche and fill it.”
– Jeff Sloan
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Good morning, Paul.
I recently heard about an entrepreneur who’s meeting with great success with his new business, and it underscores an important adage for those of you out there who are thinking about starting a business of your own. That adage is: find a niche and fill it.
Now, Avery Stempel did just that when he founded Collar City Mushrooms in Troy, New York, a store that’s devoted entirely to selling mushrooms. Really? A guy started a business specialized in selling only mushrooms? How’s he making it work? Well, let’s take a closer look.
While there are various opportunities for consumers to buy mushrooms today, such as at the local grocery store, there are few places that specialize in selling only mushrooms.
Avery’s become a mushroom expert, a guru, a mushroom God! Avery and his staff have become certified mushroom experts through an online course they’ve just completed focused on identifying mushroom types. And he wants to make buying and consuming mushrooms more of an experience than just buying them and eating them.
When you go into the store or order online, there are recipes he offers that focus primarily on mushroom-oriented dishes and cooking tips and classes on how to best prepare those recipes. You can even smell them cooking when you walk into his store. And get this: he just got approved to have a mushroom growing bed installed on the roof of his store so that customers can learn firsthand about growing and harvesting mushrooms.
Certainly, at the root of whatever niche you pick, it must be authentic, (and) a passion of yours. In Avery’s case, he’s been an admitted mushroom lover all his life. Now, Avery’s story is kind of out there, right? Well, Avery’s got a thriving business and a niche that he’s passionate about and he goes to work every day doing what he loves.
Wouldn’t we all love just that. Sound good? You can have that, too. Start a business in a niche and fill it.
I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of StartupNation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.
