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The truth is hard, but I’m going to be that guy and tell it anyway.
“NOT ALL NICHES ARE PROFITABLE”
This is not some deep thought or epiphany that results in an “Aha! Moment.” You’ve known this all along—we all know it—but often choose not to accept it.
It’s easy to find a niche, something you’re passionate about or already skilled in, and get excited. You start your freelance journey and soon realize you’re playing in a space with one of two problems:
- Too many sellers/competitors
- Not enough buyers
Too Many Sellers / Competitors
This usually happens when you enter a space where the entry barriers are too low. When that happens, anyone and everyone can jump in, leading to market saturation.
I’m often approached by freelancers with the age-old question:
“Why don’t I get a lot of orders?”
The first question I ask in return is:
“What service are you selling?”
Nine times out of ten, the answer itself explains the problem.
Think of all the “easy” ways to make money online:
- Clicking things
- Reading emails
- Watching videos
- Performing micro-tasks
(I have tried almost all of these, by the way.) Some people believe these methods are scams or that making money this way is impossible. The truth is, they are legit—but the reason most people don’t succeed is simple:
👉 The entry barrier is too low, so there are more workers than jobs.
Not Enough Buyers
On the flip side, some niches experience similar struggles—not because of competition, but due to a lack of demand.
If you’re struggling to make sales, it could be for one of these three reasons:
1. The service is too easy
If your service is something buyers can easily do themselves, they will only hire you when they’re too busy or too tired. That means inconsistent sales.
2. The market is too small
Imagine you sell clothes for dogs. Your target audience isn’t just dog owners—it’s dog owners who actually want to buy clothes for their dogs.
On the surface, this may seem like a great business idea, but ask yourself:
Is there really a market in the gap?
This can be a good problem to have. It means you’re being innovative. If done right, you might create a “blue ocean” for yourself. However, you need to do thorough research to ensure you’re solving a real problem—not an imaginary one.
Marketable innovation is:
“Solving a problem that people don’t know they have, but realize exists when they see your solution.”
This is tricky. If you’re going to be innovative, be ready to research deeply and question your idea’s marketability.
3. The service is too expensive
Some freelancers wonder why their services aren’t “selling like hotcakes”—but their service isn’t a hotcake, and that’s the problem.
If you’re a software developer charging tens of thousands of dollars per project, you won’t sell as many units as someone selling actual hotcakes (no offense to cake makers!).
That said, this is actually a better problem to have. High-priced services often mean high-value clients. Even if you land one project, it can equal months of work for someone in a lower-cost niche.
The key here is:
✅ Understand your niche’s ecosystem
✅ Set realistic expectations
Summary
The goal of this post is to help you understand what you’re getting into before you dive in.
Usually, I advise freelancers to:
👉 Start with what you know
👉 Slowly but steadily evolve
I started off as a singer/songwriter—skills that came naturally to me. But I consciously evolved into a music producer and audio engineer by taking online and offline classes, learning daily through free and paid courses.
As a result, my income has quadrupled because I:
✅ Made myself worth more
✅ Graduated into a space with higher entry barriers
✅ Entered a niche with fewer sellers and more buyers
In a nutshell:
👉 Start simple, but don’t settle.
👉 Invest in yourself.
👉 Because not all niches are profitable—or scalable.
