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Comment by LikeAnElephant | Hacker News Reader

IMO many viable niches are not being discussed online at all.

I’ve recently stumbled on an exciting niche that’s showing a lot of traction. The customers know very well how to use technology but the notion of joining forums / discussing their frustrations anywhere online just doesn’t seem to be something they consider doing. It’s all word of mouth.

My “luck” completely shifted when I stopped trying to find these users online and instead physically walked into a shop and started asking for opinions.

All that to say: I’m coming to feel that niches can more easily be found offline, even for SaaS type businesses. Just walk up and ask a business owner what they find annoying!

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Thanks, this is kind of on the path i'm also on.

A lot of entrepreneurial types are very much running around in the same circles jumping on the same trends and seeing life from the same perspective.

I remember being part of an incubator where there were 4 coffee distribution companies at the same time, pretty funny. Many others were doing online services for other tech people like some ouroboros.

At the same time designers and hacker types are often a bit introverted and isolate themselves with their work.

This creates a very deep disconnect between "the vast majority of people" that aren't very vocal online about problems, even more so the huge elderly demographic, but even zoomers are not tech savvy these days. So there should really be lots of opportunities out there if you don't focus on the tiny hot niches or techy spheres that so many people here target paradoxically.

Ie. combining "techy, nerdy or design skills" while forcing yourself out there is honestly a potential superpower - the other way around is not feasible for most, ie. the sales type learning tech that takes years and years to learn. Off course you can also always team up.

Fully agreed on all counts!

> ...but even zoomers are not tech savvy these days.

Though I would actually challenge this. The idea I'm (slowly) building out deals with owners of a small blue collar type business.

These people aren't "tech savvy" in that they're not tech nerds. They don't know about coding languages or SPA vs server rendered. They don't give a shit TypeScript vs Python vs Go vs Kotlin.

But they absolutely know how to use their phones. They know how to use apps and websites. That's as tech savvy as is needed to build a small business.

They're also working daily with these TERRIBLY outdated systems that were made decades ago and only work on 1 single Windows machine they have sitting somewhere in their shop, covered in grease.

Just show them a responsive web app that addresses their frustrations and they'll be shocked at how much of an insane genius you are. And they won't even ask about the tech, because they don't give a shit. They just want it to work.

IMO this approach is where the next wave of small business SaaS ideas are. YMMV

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