Carolyn Elefant has an excellent point in her latest posting on niche practices. She and I have both written on the subject before. And her post of last Monday on “Finding a Niche” is a very good read. But what I really liked about her latest post on the subject is her advice on not “putting all your eggs in one basket,” which I have not addressed before.
She suggests that your niche should not be more than 70% or 80% of your practice, so that you don’t find yourself in trouble if your niche market experiences a downturn. Excellent point, as borne out by the state of the real estate market in the early 90’s, and currently in some areas of the country.
Although I am very big on niches as a means to more focused legal marketing and a more successful practice especially for solos in larger cities, Carolyn’s advice to have one or more practice areas to call upon in harder times is very sound indeed.