How to choose a niche for a small SaaS: narrow or widen?

Alex Tutor

End of May. GarageDesk has 22 paying shops, all in Vinnytsia. Oscar, who are they?

Oscar

Mostly shops like Dennis's and Greg's: 2 to 8 bays, oil changes, brakes, suspension, the same cars every six months. But also two body shops and one big service center with 12 bays.

You

Isn't that good? More kinds of customers, more sales.

Alex Tutor

Look at who gets the result. How many cars came back at the body shops?

Nina

Almost none. People come to a body shop once, after an accident. There's nothing to remind them about.

Oscar

And the 12-bay center wants user roles for eight administrators, reports per mechanic and a link to its accounting system. Every call is about something we don't have.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Which of these shops gets the most out of GarageDesk's reminders?

Choose one answerA body shop that repairs cars after accidentsA 4-bay independent shop whose regulars come for an oil change every six monthsA 12-bay center that needs roles for eight administratorsA dealership service center with its own software

Alex Tutor

A niche is a group you can describe in one sentence, with the same job, the same problems and the same words. Nina, write GarageDesk's.

Nina

Independent car repair shops with 2 to 8 bays that do repeat service work.

Alex Tutor

Good. Now the other half: who's out?

Oscar

Body shops, dealership service centers and big centers with a dozen bays. And tire shops, for now.

Alex Tutor

Saying who's out is what makes the sentence useful. When the 12-bay center asks for roles, it's not a request for the "later" list. It's a different customer.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

Which shops are inside GarageDesk's niche: "independent car repair shops with 2 to 8 bays that do repeat service work"? Choose all that apply.

Choose all that applyDennis's 4-bay shopGreg's 6-bay shopPaul's 2-bay garage, where the owner is also the mechanicA body shop that only repairs accident damageA dealership service center

You

Why not widen it? Body shops are shops too.

Alex Tutor

Widen when you've run out of people to talk to. Narrow when the product starts pulling in different directions. Right now you have two signals to narrow: shops that get no result, and requests that belong to a different business.

Nina

And when is a niche too narrow?

Alex Tutor

"Shops with 2 to 8 bays on one street" is easy to serve and too small to live on. A niche is too narrow when it can't reach your goal. That's a count, and we'll do it next time.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Match each signal with what it suggests doing with the niche.

Pick an answer for each row. Choosing an answer that is already used moves it to this row.

Some customers in the group get no result from the product
Choose an answer
Requests pull the product toward a different kind of business
Choose an answer
You've already talked to almost every business that fits
Choose an answer
The count can't reach your revenue goal
Choose an answer

Alex Tutor

A niche has one more gift: its members talk to each other. Where do Vinnytsia shop owners meet?

Oscar

At parts-supplier counters every morning, waiting for orders. In a Telegram group of Vinnytsia mechanics, about 1,200 members. And once a year at the regional auto-service fair.

Nina

I saw them at the counter every morning when I worked at the distributor.

Alex Tutor

That's your cheapest marketing: a notice at the counter, a useful post in the group, a stand at the fair. And nobody outside the niche has to see it.

Oscar

The group admins ban ads. But a post showing how one shop brought its regulars back, with real numbers, gets read.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

Which is the best first way for GarageDesk to reach more shops in its niche in Vinnytsia?

Choose one answerA billboard on the main road into the cityAds aimed at all small businesses in the regionA post in the mechanics' Telegram group about how one shop brought regulars back, with numbersCold emails to dealership service centers

You

Paul is in the niche, and he still hasn't paid.

Alex Tutor

Being in the niche means the same problems and words, not that everyone buys now. Paul spends nothing on the problem today, so he'll come late, if at all. Shops that already pay someone to call regulars come first.

Oscar

And the two body shops? They pay.

Alex Tutor

Keep them while they want to stay, and tell them honestly that reminders may bring them little. Just stop pitching to body shops.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

True or false: Paul's 2-bay garage is outside GarageDesk's niche, because he spends nothing on bringing regulars back.

TrueFalse

You

Can I try writing a niche for a different product?

Alex Tutor

Take an app that helps driving schools schedule lessons and remind students. One sentence for who's in, one for who's out, and where they already talk.

Nina

Make it narrow enough that you could name ten of them.

Oscar

And real places. "Social media" is not a place.

Alex Tutor

Question 6Short answer · AI-checked task

An app helps driving schools schedule lessons and remind students. In 3–5 sentences, define its niche: who is in, who is out, and two specific places where its members already talk or meet.

Write your answer and get a score with feedback from our AI reviewer.

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Alex Tutor

Next time: how many shops like this are there in Vinnytsia, and is that enough for two founders?

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: The market, bottom up