Emerging entrepreneurs often fall into the trap of thinking they need to be everything to everyone in order to get the most clients. The thing is, when you offer everything under the sun it makes it really hard for your potential clients to know exactly what it is that you do and how you can help solve their problem.

Let’s have a look at how you can choose what services you should offer so it’s easier for people to understand what you do, making it more likely that they’ll buy from you.

Why narrow down your services?

When it comes to websites, people aren’t patient. So there’s no way they’ll stay on your website long enough to sift through a long list of services.

Even if they did, they’d likely get confused, forget what they came looking for in the first place, and move on in search of a clearer path to get what they want.

So you need to pinpoint 1-3 core services that you’ll offer.

Look at the your past services

First, write down all of the things you’ve done in the past. You’re going to want to categorize each offering as follows:

• What you do best
• What you enjoy the most
• What you sell the most of
• Which offerings are most unique

Think about what you like to do

Another good thing to think about is how you want to work.

• Do you like working with your clients one-on-one or in a group?
• Do you want to meet clients in person or do you want to be location-independent?
• Are there any services you’ve been offering at an hourly rate that could be more project-based?
• Are you happier doing one-off projects or would you prefer ongoing work may be in the form of a subscription or membership?

It may be obvious what your top 1-3 services are going to be, but if not also write down next to each service how many clients have purchased each over the past year as well as the revenue that was brought in. This should make it clear what services you should keep so long as doing the work also makes you happy.

This doesn’t mean you can’t sell other services, of course. You can group them together inside larger packages or use them as opportunities to upsell later.

Be sure not to get stuck on this though. It’s best to choose and move forward with your business and revise and refine as you go. As you go along you’ll learn more about your audience’s specific needs and wants as well as what you enjoy doing most.

Offering too many services is an easy thing to do. I did it for years, so I totally get it.

I know it seems scary to lose potential business because you cut out something you CAN do, but believe me, by being more specific, you’ll be able to market yourself better, sell more, have greater success stories, and become more known for your area of expertise than you would have otherwise.

You may be thinking, “But I don’t want to niche down, I have too many things that I love to do.” And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! If that’s the case, check out this post where I go over how to brand your business when you’re a multi-passionate entrepreneur.