Seek underserved markets to grow unseen

Obsidian Business Planning Solutions is the small business owner’s answer to, “How do I prepare to sell my company?” Unlike most firms involved with the mergers, acquisitions, and sales of companies, it didn’t initially seek big, white-collar companies. It doesn’t sell your company to the highest bidder. And it doesn’t charge a commission. Instead, Obsidian tailored its business model to achieve its blue-collar market’s goal of securing company continuity from one owner to the next.

These differences helped Obsidian slide under the competition’s radar. The company came onto our radar because it built a scalable model with an underserved market. Like many successful companies, Obsidian didn’t try to take the competition head-on. Instead, it went around the competition.

Today, Obsidian is working with larger clients than ever across more diverse verticals than ever. It succeeded because it perfected its client process with underserved target markets.

Here are two other companies which used this same under-the-radar strategy to achieve success. One focused on getting more bang for its marketing and branding bucks. The other made noticeable moves after quietly building a company infrastructure for rapid growth.

Improve your marketing and branding outcomes

Our Director of Business Development is a 40-year veteran of launching entrepreneurial small businesses. One of his businesses involved marketing and branding consulting to regional MMA promotions.

A huge part of Dennis’ consulting success was his focus on reaching sports fans who had never considered attending an MMA event. While 10 promotions sought to reach the same 2,000 fight fans over and over, Dennis and his clients targeted 10,000 baseball, wrestling, and football fans. Dennis’ clients put 2,500-plus people in seats at each event; the competition averaged 800 attendees.

Dennis used many tactics to reach target markets; they were all based around seeking the underserved market. This strategy comes with a bonus — being perceived as the only game in town can significantly increase net profits because the right target markets served the right way may return to make more purchases. While the competition is slashing prices and fighting each other for ad space, you’re getting a much better bang for your marketing and branding bucks.

Make moves at the right time

Parabilis provides strategic lines of credit to help small business government contractors scale operations. Its competition is other non-bank lenders which have expensive fees and high rates, which makes Parabilis’ simple and transparent model very attractive to contractors, especially military veterans who relate to Parabilis’ veteran founders.

Parabilis took three steps to steadily and quietly grow. First, it designed a product that is more cost-effective and flexible compared to its competitors. Second, it let word-of-mouth create a strong core of clients. Third, it incorporates non-lending support into its suite of client services, such as making introductions to key outside partners to help clients scale faster.

Once this core was built, Parabilis began making moves for massive growth:

• Key new hires who will increase the number and quality of its clients
• A bank partner which will increase Parabilis’ net revenue.
• A Proven Media Solutions-crafted media strategy to put its brand at the front of the industry.

From MMA to M&A, seek the underserved market

Every market niche has the potential to be a source of significant revenue for a small business. The question is whether you want to face the competition openly or if you want to grow unnoticed. If you want to perfect your process at your pace, get a better bang for your marketing buck, and grow unseen, the answer is simple: seek the underserved markets.