“This is a niche” sometimes means “I haven’t found many competitors.” Those are different discoveries.

A niche is useful when the people inside it share a meaningful problem and you have a plausible way to reach them. Low competition can also mean low demand, difficult distribution, or a task nobody wants to pay to solve.

Describe the room

Try this sentence: “People who do ___, in situation ___, struggle with ___.”

Consider a hypothetical practice timer for musicians. “Musicians” is broad. “Adult beginners practicing quietly after their children go to sleep” suggests different needs: quick setup, low distraction, saved routines and an interface readable at a glance.

It also suggests places to investigate: teachers serving adult learners, relevant practice communities, and existing products those learners discuss. These are research leads, not a mailing list you have permission to scrape or spam.

Compare three kinds of evidence

First, evidence of the problem: recent stories, repeated workarounds and observable inconvenience. Second, evidence of alternatives: apps, physical tools or habits that already help. Third, evidence of access: a channel in which you could contribute something useful and earn attention.

Give each candidate niche a short note under all three. Leave blanks where you lack evidence. A blank is more useful than a confident score invented to complete the table.

Make the audience smaller without making the value smaller

A narrow audience can still have a substantial problem. But narrowing on arbitrary demographics rarely improves a product. “A timer for people aged 28–34” tells you little. “A timer that fits a teacher’s five-minute changeover between lessons” describes a workflow.

Ask what would be materially different in the product, message or distribution because of your chosen niche. If the answer is only the stock photo, keep looking.

Pick the next investigation

Choose the niche with the clearest test, not the prettiest spreadsheet total. Can you observe the workflow? Can a small prototype produce a useful result? Can you find potential users without buying a giant audience?

You aren’t marrying the category. You’re deciding which door to knock on first.