How To Establish Your Building Company’s Niche

Why generalists are broke, burnt out, and invisible… and how the right niche can change everything.

I still remember the look on Michael’s face.

It was 2010, and I was on the road selling workplace health and safety documentation. I’d just sat down across from a builder in Brisbane—Michael—and I asked a simple, innocent question to break the ice:

“So, what is it you do?”

He blinked at me, like I’d just asked if hammers were made of cheese.

Then he shrugged and said:

“I build. Building is building, isn’t it? It’s all the same.”

Right then, I knew two things.

1. Michael was a generalist.
2. Business wasn’t going well.

And sure enough, when I asked, “How’s business?”—he let it rip.

“It’s crap. The margins are crap. And it’s tough to get any sort of work. I’ve got an architect who sends me the odd job, but the rest of the leads are time-wasters. Everyone just wants the lowest price… and I can’t compete with that.”

Sound familiar?

The Fastest Way to Lose Margin and Burn Out

Michael’s situation wasn’t unique. In fact, it’s the default state for most builders who haven’t claimed a niche.

When you try to be all things to all people, you end up being nothing to anyone.

And the price? You pay it in sleepless nights, unqualified leads, low-margin jobs, and wasted time pricing work that never converts.

Builders like Michael are stuck in a cycle—frantically quoting plans for anything that comes in. New builds. Renovations. Extensions. High-end. Low-end. Doesn’t matter. If it breathes, it gets a quote.

And here’s the worst part: they’re doing all of this for free… hoping to win 1 in 5 jobs.

Meanwhile, there’s another kind of builder.

• The one who dominates a niche.
• They attract high-quality clients who already know what they want.
• They get paid premium prices.
• They don’t compete on cost.
• They win 1 in 2, sometimes even 2 in 3 quotes.
• They work with less stress, less waste, and more profit.

They’re not just builders. They’re the specialists—the “eye surgeons” of the construction industry.

So the question becomes…

Are you trying to be everything to everyone?

Or are you positioning yourself as the best at one thing?

How To Find Your Niche

The good news is, you don’t need to guess. Your niche is hiding in plain sight.

Start here:

• Look at your jobs over the last 2–3 years.
• Which ones were the smoothest?
• Which ones did you actually enjoy?
• Which ones made the most net profit?

Now, sort your jobs by net profit margin.

What you’ll find is that 20% of your jobs created 80% of your profit. That’s your goldmine.

Drill into that 20%:

• What type of projects were they?
• What price range?
• What kind of client?
• What location?

Maybe you’ve been doing everything from high-end custom homes to $800K builds, plus the odd remodel thrown in.

Well, surprise, surprise…

Those glamorous, high-end, $5M builds? They look good on Instagram… but the margins are often terrible. They’re more complex, go over budget, and drag on forever.

Meanwhile, the $800K custom homes?

They’re simple.

Repeatable.

And if you’re structured right, they turn higher net margins.

Now ask yourself:

“What if I just focused on those?”

The right niche can change your entire business. And your lifestyle.

The Riches Are in the Sub-Niches

You don’t have to conquer an entire market. You just need to own one corner of it.

Here are a few niche ideas to get your wheels turning:

• Price-point niche: Custom homes in the $500K–$800K range
• Design niche: Architecturally designed homes
• Timeline niche: Custom homes completed in under 6 months
• Geography niche: Homes built on sloping blocks (most builders avoid these—big opportunity!)
• Demographic niche: Downsizers, executive couples, or families upsizing from inner-city apartments

The more specific you get, the stronger your positioning becomes.

But niching is only half the puzzle…

Who Are You Really Building For?

Because once you know what you build, you need to know who you build it for.

We call this your avatar. And here’s why it matters:

If you try to attract everyone, you’ll keep getting price-shoppers, time-wasters, and nightmare clients.

But when you market to your ideal client—you naturally attract more of them. And just as importantly… you repel the wrong ones.

So build your avatar by asking:

• Which clients were a dream to work with?
• What age were they? Married or single? Kids?
• Where do they live now? Where are they moving to?
• What do they do for a living? How much do they earn?
• How many times have they built before?
• What are they afraid of?
• What do they desire from the building process?
• What are their hobbies and values?

Then give them a name.

Maybe it’s CEO Cindy and Business Owner Bob.

They’re a dual-income couple, in their 40s, relocating to your area to build their second home.

That’s who you talk to in your marketing.

That’s who you visualise when you shoot a video or write a sales page.

Not the crowd. Not the mob. Not “everyone.” Just them.

Final Thought: You Can’t Scale as a Generalist

The most successful builders—the ones pulling $10M+ in revenue while still taking weekends off—aren’t doing everything.

They’re doing one thing, exceptionally well, for one type of client.

They’ve dialled in their niche. They’ve defined their avatar. And they’re scaling with structure, confidence, and clarity.

If you want the same—start here:

• Analyse your past jobs
• Identify your most profitable, enjoyable projects
• Get laser-focused on that type of work
• Define your avatar in detail
• Tailor all your marketing to speak only to them

Because the truth is…

You don’t need more leads.

You don’t need more services.

You don’t need to work harder.

You just need to be known for something.

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