MSME DIGEST With Kola Owolabi
REVERSE ENTREPRENEURSHIP Series (3)
A customer cluster is a group of related customers who share similar needs, behaviors, or characteristics. Instead of chasing random, one-off customers, you focus on a specific group that can generate consistent business over several years.
Another word for a customer cluster is a niche. A niche is a specialized focused segment of a broader market, interest, or ecosystem characterized by unique demands or roles. Vocabulary.com puts it more succinctly- “A niche is a space that’s all your own…” This is a segment of the market that is most disposed to listening to you and patronize what you have to offer more than any other group of buyers. Talk about a Nigerian living in Canada opening a shop for selling items of African origin. He is better facing only black people or advertising in black owned media rather general interest ones.
Mark Zuckersburg, the founder of Facebook concentrated on university students when the company started. He got the initial traction by extending his offering to other students in university campuses after testing the Facebook idea on students of Harvard University, where he was a student. The acceptance by students on campuses was the springboard he needed for the fast market penetration, before realizing that other people outside university campuses liked the concept. Facebook is now a global phenomenon, but started as a campus product.
This means that you need a space in the market that is only yours at the beginning of your entrepreneurial journey, where you can sit comfortably and from there launch the fight for other portions of the wider market. Guardian Newspapers, entered the newspaper business in Nigeria by focusing on the intellectuals, the eggheads and those who cared, not just about having fun while reading newspapers, but see it as a serious business. The newspaper was nearly becoming a textbook for those studying English Language particularly the ones who wanted to improve on their vocabulary. This niche has served the newspaper well over the years and made it earn the respect of competitors, and none had dared to seriously fight for a piece of the same market segment.
The methodology goes thus:- You start by deliberately looking away from the market served by the market leaders in your space. For example, La casera, a Nigerian fruit drink, started off powerfully by using only pet bottles as its only packaging, when the major brands (Cocacola and Pepsi) were mostly offered in glass bottles. This enabled the drink to be accepted among people on-the-go, i.e., mobile customers who wanted to take their drink with them and consume it right away, which includes people in traffic, at sports events and at virtually everywhere people will get thirsty. This propelled Lacasera into the forefront as the leading Nigerian drink sold in pet bottles, most especially for people on the move. The drink managed to hold the prominent position for a considerable length of time. Coca cola and Pepsi had since scrambled to join the bandwagon for the market-on-the move but Lacasera is still a force to reckon with in that market segment.
Over time, your customer cluster becomes your greatest asset. It provides not only revenue but also referrals, feedback, and opportunities for innovation.
In Reverse Entrepreneurship, the ultimate goal is not just to make sales, but to build a reliable pipeline of customers who sustain your business for years. When you achieve this, capital no longer becomes a problem. Financial institutions, partners, and investors are naturally attracted to businesses with stable, predictable demand.
In the end, customers are the true source of business success. Chase them first, serve them well, and the money will follow.
Kola Owolabi is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Management Consultants (FIMC.CMC) and Chief Executive Officer of David Solomon Consulting Limited, based in Igbesa, a suburb of metropolitan Lagos.It can be reached via phone or WhatsApp at 08023203198
