Learning how to niche down your business can feel like turning away money, which is why most owners put it off. Ethan Giffin, Founder and CEO of The B2B eCommerce Agency, put it off for years too. Then he looked at his client list and found that his 12 smallest clients combined were worth less than his top 6.
In Episode 163 of The Profit Minds Podcast, Dr. Steven Kirch talks with Ethan about how he narrowed his agency to one specialty, why he now needs only 6 new clients a year, and how any owner can run the same check.
In this episode, Dr. Kirch and Ethan Giffin break down how to niche down your business without guessing, using the real numbers from Ethan’s own agency.
Ethan Giffin is the Founder and CEO of The B2B eCommerce Agency, formerly Groove Commerce, based in Baltimore. He has been an entrepreneur since he was 8 years old, when he ran yard sales for his grandmother. At 15 he started a DJ business. Later, he helped build an internal digital agency inside a 6,000 person, $5.5 billion staffing company before starting his own agency about 20 years ago.
Today, his team works with mid-market manufacturers and distributors. They build private buyer portals, which are password-protected sites where existing customers can log in, see their own pricing and terms, and place orders on their own. Ethan is also the author of Closing the Digital Revenue Gap: 10 Revenue Blind Spots That Are Costing You More Than You Think.
For years, Ethan’s agency served e-commerce brands in general and sold about 15 different services. However, the market matured, competitors specialized, and some of that work became a commodity.
When he turned 50, Ethan took inventory. His agency usually had 35 to 40 clients. He found that the bottom 12 to 14, added together, brought in less than his top 6. As a result, about a third of his company was serving clients who were too small or whose expectations no longer matched what the agency did best.
Dr. Kirch points out that this is the classic 80/20 rule. Together, he and Ethan give owners a simple exercise to run this week:
Instead of chasing 10 to 20 new clients a year, Ethan rebuilt the agency so it needs only 6. “We just don’t want to win every deal that comes to us,” he says. In fact, his team now says no more often than it says yes, because they only take work where they know they can succeed.
Furthermore, saying no gave the team time back, which they now spend on the complex problems their best clients have. Ethan’s test for any niche is one question: are you being commoditized, or do you have expertise that customers need, want, and will pay for?
His own niche shows the opportunity. He has seen $200 million companies take orders by text message. A phone order can cost $50 to $70 to process, while an online order costs about $5. Because of that gap, a good buyer portal should carry 10 to 15 percent of a company’s revenue on its own.
“Give it away. Talk about it loud and proud,” Ethan says. He shares almost everything he knows for free, in interviews, webinars, his book, and an invite-only summit where his agency even covers hotel rooms and travel. He does this because trust is low in the age of AI, and people want to hear directly from real experts. When you only need a handful of new clients a year, he says, trust will bring them to you.
He also uses AI every day. For example, he dictates his ideas out loud, has AI turn them into a clear plan, and hands that plan to his team. In addition, his agency uses AI to build product catalogs from spec sheets and CAD files.
Ethan is mailing a free signed copy of his book Closing the Digital Revenue Gap: 10 Revenue Blind Spots That Are Costing You More Than You Think, plus a free consultation, to listeners in manufacturing or distribution.
Dr. Steven Kirch is the creator of the Profit Minds™ Growth System, which helps entrepreneurs and professionals accelerate profits through productivity, scalable systems, and AI-powered business strategies.
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