4/15/2005

Serve a Niche & Make it Big

According to an article in BusinessWeek, Mary Ellen Sheets began her business called Two Men and a Truck with a hand-drawn ad in the paper, one truck costing $350 and two men to lift heavy furniture. Originally her sons started the business but when they left for college the demand was so high Mary just couldn't quit providing the service.
Mary noticed there was a need for short inner-city hauls, and focused on serving that niche of the market. Her strategy and consistency served her well. Today there are 152 franchise locations that serve 27 states, and the business. Look what serving the right niche can do!

2 comments:

Eric said...

Wow I am impressed even the name "Two men and a Truck" that is catchy. This is why I love the United States, give people opportunity and they will show you success.

Dr. Tufte said...

-1 on Lana's post for a grammatical error.

I get the impression that the commenters missed the niche.

It isn't providing short-hauling service. That is a monopolistically competitive, with zero profits in the long-run.

The real niche is being the franchiser. Now Ms. Sheets is a monopolist with a set of trademarked ideas to sell to franchisers. That's when the real money starts rolling in.