How Eliminating Half Your Market Can Skyrocket Growth
- Shawna Suckow
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
I stumbled across a TikTok recently from @TheAsylumInk (www.theasylumink.com), a tattoo shop right here in Minnesota. It’s a new shop that could’ve taken the safe route that many small businesses do: it could’ve marketed itself to everyone, hoping to attract any customers it could in the early stages. But not this shop. The owner, Alisha Perkins, made a bold move: she decided from day one that her shop would only focus on serving women. Full stop.
Now, let’s pause on that. Tattooing is still a male-dominated field. And by creating a women-only shop, she instantly eliminated half her potential customers. If you’re thinking, “That’s business suicide,” you wouldn’t be alone. That’s exactly what conventional wisdom would say.
Many small businesses say that they’ll start out general just to get off the ground, and then maybe specialize later. By being a generalist, though, your business is lumped in with every other business--all more established than yours.
“But we’re better,” you say?
It’ll take savvy marketing to convince skeptical customers of that these days. But if you start off focused only on your Exact Right Customers, word of mouth spreads amongst that community.
As far as The Asylum goes, she’s thriving. With over 35,000 TikTok followers and a shop that’s buzzing, her bold choice to specialize hasn’t made her smaller—it’s made her magnetic.
Why It Works
When you plant your flag in the ground and say, “This is who we are, and this is who we serve,” two things happen:
You stop chasing everybody. You don’t waste your time, money, or energy trying to please all people. Instead, you double down on serving your Exact Right People. For Asylum, that means everything can be focused on women: the vibe, the music/decor, the tattoo styles, the marketing, the special events. (Note: I love that she offers packages like Ride or Die for two people: besties, mom/daughter, etc.!). Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t imagine a guy bringing his BFF in to get matching tattoos…
You build trust faster. Women walking into her shop know they’ll be comfortable, understood, and supported. That’s not something you can replicate by saying “We serve everyone.”
Lots of good things happen. Customers become more like ambassadors, which means word of mouth goes up, and marketing costs go down. Your Exact Right Customers are more likely to accept price increases, and more likely to forgive when things go wrong.
It’s counterintuitive, but the tighter you define your audience, the wider your impact can grow. We live in a world of niches. Customers want the business that feels like their business.
Asylum Ink nailed this. They said: we’re not for everybody, and that’s exactly why the right people can’t stop saying yes. Trying to be all things to all people can make you invisible. Specializing makes you unforgettable.
If you’re a small business owner, here’s your challenge:
Who’s your favorite type of customer? Do you wish you had a customer base that was 99% like them?
Try customizing your marketing messages to focus on them for a month and see how it works for you. You won’t alienate your existing customers, and your Exact Right Customers will start to surface. A month isn’t long enough to really give it a fair shake, so if the results aren’t great, don’t give up. But if they are, you’re well on your way!