Comments on: Pros and Cons of Business Specialization

By: Paul Welsh

Paul Welsh — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:22:29 +0000

This summer I released a book called “the St. Bernard Principle. Why Specialists are the Alpha Dogs in Business.” and it makes a compelling case for specialization. Short of being a full bred St. Bernard, you might consider what I call the Litter Twin strategy where you launch a second specialist business if the potential looks strong.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:13:18 +0000

Well, as Chris knows, we specialize in web solutions exclusively for healthcare, and even then we specialize primarily in physician practices.

On the downside, our target market has some quirks with their buying cycle — sometimes they’re very price-conscious and sometimes the sales process can be dragged out for months on a project of relatively low value. And of course we have more direct competition (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though).

On the upside, we get to leverage our experience with previous clients with every single new client, and, to Chris’s point, we beat out the generic web firm every time. We’re also able to package our services into a product and sell the product, which means we can set budgets and quotas with more predictability than a general web design job.

In the end, there are definite benefits to specializing, especially when you’re selling to a client. But I think there’s definitely something to be said for exactly which industry you choose to specialize in in the first place!

By: Seamus

Seamus — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 16:42:45 +0000

As an individual freelancer trying to get a small business off the ground, I can say that the biggest mistake I made last year was not starting off specialized. It seems counterintuitive at first. Especially since most of us working full time as web designers have already done several sites for a wide variety of markets. I didn’t want to prevent potential new clients by not being open to their market.

This year I have decided to turn my attention exclusively to the small non-profit sector. Things seem so much clearer already. I can focus on marketing towards specific trade journals and conferences. I can make my marketing language sharper and less like the 150 million other web designers offering basically the same product.

Great post.

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 15:54:45 +0000

Let me know how this works out for you. I’m trying to move my own business towards the web illustration/icon design niche this year and away from full site design. We shall see how it goes.

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 03 Jan 2006 12:17:34 +0000

We don’t “specialize” per se – we are, however, working on strengthening our vertical sectors or markets. As a developing firm made up of several partners, we each bring different focus (specialties, knowledge, depth of experience…) to the broader picture of what we do. Hence, we are able to do all kinds of things, in all types of industries, while remaining focused and not appearing as though we’re all over the place.