Ep135 Transcript: Serve Your Own Niche – Top Takeaways from Mira Canion

Andrea Vahl: Do you want to start your own business? Then think about how you can serve your own niche. That’s what Mira Canion did when she discovered there weren’t enough Spanish readers for her students. Listen in as I dive a little bit into the top takeaways from my interview with Mira Canion.

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In episode 134, I talked to my friend, Mira Canion, who has built somewhat of an empire creating Spanish readers for teachers to help them teach in the classroom. She was a Spanish teacher who realized there weren’t enough Spanish readers that were available in the way she wanted to see them.

They didn’t have interesting stories. She wanted to incorporate more of the culture. And so she set out to create a Spanish reader that would be for her own classroom and incorporate some of her creativity and some of her photography eventually.

And so she started publishing her own. And as she did that, her business grew and she got to the point where she was really straddling the line between teaching and going full time with this newfound career that she created.

And the thing that I love about this is that when you see a hole in the market and when you see a real true need, you can create a great business and you can really leverage the fact that you know the niche very well because you’ve been in that, you know how to work with it.

There are some unique things with dealing with teachers and dealing with school districts and the way they bill that Mira already had an insight to. And so that was a real help for her as she created this new business. And so she was able to work with these people. She has the contacts, she’s able to get out there. She’s able to know what conferences she needs to go to, to get that exposure. And that is a real true gift in having a leg up into that new business.

So if you see some hole in the market, you see something that’s underserved in a certain way, and you have a calling to create that, then it might be a great opportunity for you to create either a side hustle, as she originally started this as side hustle, creating these books and just, she had a couple of books to start with and then it just grew and gained this momentum to grow it into a full time business where now she has people who are on her team. That she has as a staff to help her out in this venture.

So you really may not know where this is going to go and where this is going to grow, but you can start out and follow that curiosity around, Hey, I think I have an idea. I’m going to start this new thing. And I could see that it could be a little profitable side income for me. And then as you see how it grows in the response in the marketplace, you can then develop more and more.

And I think that’s just such a great way to start a business because you’ve got this full time income that you have this full time job and it can be challenging to grow something on the side, but it’s a really great way to dip your toe into that without risking very much.

You’ve still got health insurance. You’ve still got a full time income, but then you can supplement with this little side gig, but then grow it. And I think it’s really helpful to grow it in your own niche because you’re familiar with that. The needs, the mindset, the way people think you can really appeal to them.

And you have credibility because people really trust you because you know that market, you know what they need, what the kind of support they need in that service or in that product that you’re providing and you can really serve that market well.

So if you really want to start your own business, I would suggest taking a look at your own niche, seeing where the holes are, seeing where your unique gifts are and seeing where the curiosity really pulls you. What is really calling to you and speaking to you? And can you create that on the side as you have the security of that full time income.

So if you haven’t had a chance yet to listen to episode 134, definitely go back and tune in now and learn how you can serve your own niche.

Hope that was helpful and make sure you grab the free guide top tools for late starters on the website at latestartersclub.com and let’s turn dreaming into doing.