Niche Ways of Solving Big Problems

Indie hackers always try to find niche problems to solve because it has less competition due to the low market size having less of an incentive for the big players to try and address the problems. However, an alternative approach is never discussed which is starting with the big general problems and finding niche ways to solve them.

Big problems are core modern human problems - being healthy (mental, physical, spiritual), making money (food, shelter, safety, raising children etc), having purpose, having meaningful experiences, having good relationships. Using the niche market approach, it can be hard to find problems to solve, especially if you are not yourself a member of that niche market. However, when looking at general problems, we can see that there is massive room for improvement in all of those areas, particularly in developing countries.

But tackling those big problems seems intractable. That's where the niche solutions come in. There are two ways to niche down large problems:

• Solve the problem for a niche group of people or solve it in such a way that would only appeal to a niche group of people
• Large problems have endless nested sub-problems, pick one of those sub-problems e.g. improving a new member of the workforce's employability enough for them to get employed is going to solve the money problem for them

The niche solution to a general problem approach has a few advantages. The first is that you can be sure that you are solving something people care about having solved - that is the first step and the foundation of any good business, having a guarantee that the foundation is sound is a great benefit right from the start.

Next is that you don't limit your potential for growth from the start - when solving a niche problem, you have a built-in scale plateau and may need to make a whole new product to grow your revenue. However, with niche solutions to general problems you have the opportunity to expand your offering to solve a larger part of the problem.

Finally, the positive impact on the world is increasing when focusing on big problems. Solving big modern human problems is going to mean a categorical improvement in the life of those whose problems you have solved. Conversely, solving niche problems is only going to marginally improve the lives of those whose problems you have solved.