I helped build and sell an agency niched into orthodontics.
When we reached 40 practices across the country, from single-location owners to multi-practice groups that’s when something clicked.
We could see what was coming in that market before any single practice could.
We didn’t have a magic crystal ball (or did we?). We were seeing the same problem play out across 40 variations of it simultaneously.
(And it doesn’t take 40 to be in the sweet spot).
That’s not positioning, it’s category leadership.
And it’s what made the business worth buying.
Most agency owners I talk to are working hard on positioning right now.
You’re sharpening your process, tightening your message and rewriting your website for the third time.
That work matters but it’s the beginning of the category leadership path, not the end.
The path I see working looks like this:
Niche ---> Positioning ---> Category Leadership
Your niche defines who you serve. Your positioning explains why you’re the right fit. Category leadership shapes how the market understands the problem in the first place (and sets you apart).
For our orthodontics agency, the niche wasn’t a constraint. It was the thing that made the insight possible. You can’t see patterns across 40 practices if you’re also working with e-commerce brands and SaaS companies and local restaurants.
Focus creates the intelligence.
That’s the reframe underneath everything I now call Small But Mighty.
A small, focused agency is a competitive advantage because depth creates a kind of visibility that breadth never can. You start to see things your clients can’t see yet.
And when you can do that consistently, trust follows.
So the question worth sitting with:
What does working deeply in your industry let you see that no one else can?
The full version of this is over on my Substack.
