Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as A Coaching Niche Defined by the Way You Work | by Dr. Evelyn Fendler-Lee ACC
Many coaches are told to define their niche by choosing a target audience, a problem and a promised transformation. But for coaches whose work is deeply process-oriented, this advice can feel too external, or simply not quite true.
When I recently became certified as an ICF coach, I was inspired to further develop my coaching business. One question became central: how to define my niche in a way that actually fits my work.
I came to see that, for many coaches, a niche is not found by choosing a market first. It emerges from the fit between the coach’s way of working and the clients for whom that way of working creates movement.
This article will walk you through my process for overcoming the problems I had with the standard approach to defining my niche and the alternative path I took. I hope it helps you clarify and refine your coaching niche further.
Where the Usual Way of Defining a Niche Doesn’t Work
The usual way to define a niche starts from the outside, as reflected by a common definition: A niche is the intersection of who you serve, the problem or aspiration you help with, the transformation you enable, and why you are uniquely credible to do that work.
Starting with the target group is where it tends to break down for me. When I am asked who my clients are, my first honest answer is: I can work with many different people because I work in a process-oriented way. Most, if not all, one-on-one personal work is process-oriented. Coaching is not primarily defined by the topic a client brings. It is shaped by the quality of the process: how we listen, how we make space for what is not yet clear, how we identify the next step, and how something new can emerge.
Start with Your Way of Working
A more practical entry point is the last element of the niche definition: why you are uniquely credible to do that work. This is like job hunting. You do not begin by asking who might hire you. You begin with yourself: your strengths, your experience and what you are able to do in a distinct way. From there, you identify where this becomes valuable.
In the same way, a unique coaching niche is created by a unique coach. What differentiates your work is not primarily the problem you address, but the way you work. This makes the coaching process the central differentiator. It is shaped by the coach’s personality, training, experience and underlying philosophy, whether explicit or not.
Being precise about how you work determines why your work is effective, why some clients are a strong fit and others are not, and why some situations move forward while others remain stuck. It is a matter of articulating and refining the process you bring and identifying where it works best.
In my case, this process means starting from the client’s implicit sense of a situation rather than predefined goals, staying with what is not yet clear until something forms and helping them find the language that fits their experience and allows it to move forward. What creates change is not the application of solutions but the client’s ability to enter and sustain such a process.
This changes how I understand the problem. It is less something to be fixed and more of a process that is stalled or not yet formed. When the process moves, outcomes emerge: a new understanding, a new possibility, a new action or a new way of being.
Niche as Fit: Where Your Work Creates Movement
From this perspective, the definition of a niche changes. It cannot be derived primarily from problem categories or target groups. Instead, it is defined by the fit between the process you offer and the clients who can engage with it. The relevant question is not “Who has this problem?” but “For whom does my way of working create movement?”
In practice, this means identifying the people for whom your process is a strong fit. In my case, this often means people who are not just looking for solutions but are willing to engage with something not yet fully formed, people at a point of transition, where something is unclear but already felt and needs to be articulated or developed further.
At the same time, clients do not come for the process and are primarily not interested in how I work. They come because something is not working or because they want to create or change something. They come for a problem or an aspiration, and they stay and get results because the process works. This is why you cannot define your niche only in terms of process, but you also cannot define it without it.
A niche becomes real when you can connect both: what the client is struggling with and how your specific way of working enables progress in that situation.
This also sets a practical boundary. Coaching requires the client’s active participation in their own process. My work does not fit clients seeking quick fixes or ready-made answers. It requires a willingness to stay with uncertainty and engage in one’s own inner experience.
When this fit is right, two things follow. First, outcomes improve because the client’s process can unfold effectively. Second, the work becomes sustainable for the coach. Process-oriented work remains alive. It does not become repetitive or draining when there is a genuine fit between the coach’s way of working and the client’s process.
Key Takeaways
To summarize, here are the main takeaways:
- Start with your process, not the market.
- Your way of working is your real differentiation.
- A niche is defined by fit, not by category.
- The right clients are those who can engage with your process.
- Clarity comes from observing where your work actually creates movement.
The practical task is not to search for a market first, but to clarify your way of working and observe where it creates real movement. The following prompts guide you through this sequence.
A Process-Oriented Way to Define Your Niche
1) Clarify what coaching means in your work
Before getting specific, be clear about what coaching means to you.
- What is coaching, in your own understanding?
- Which definition resonates with you, or where do you disagree?
This gives you a starting orientation for your work.
2)Articulate your unique coaching process
Your niche begins with how you work. Be precise about it.
- How do you actually work with clients?
- What is distinctive about your approach? What do you consistently do that others typically do not?
- What happens in your sessions that would not happen in the same way with another coach?
Include your background and influences:
- How does your prior experience shape your coaching at a deeper level?
- How do you integrate other methods or disciplines?
- What do you know deeply and draw on in your work?
To bring this together:
- What is the overall sense of your way of working?
- Can you find a metaphor that captures it?
- How do you hold the client and the process?
3) Identify what your process actually does
Now turn toward the effect of your work.
- What shifts when your process works well?
- What becomes possible for the client?
- What is your work especially good at moving forward?
Be specific:
- What kinds of situations does it help with and why?
- What changes because of how you work, not just what you work on?
4) Recognize where the fit is strongest
Your niche emerges where your process meets the right clients.
- For whom does your way of working create the most movement?
- Which clients respond best to it?
- Where have you seen the strongest shifts?
Look at your experience:
- Which clients were most engaged or energized by your work?
- What about your approach met them exactly where they were?
- What about them made the process work so well?
Also clarify limits:
- With whom does your approach not work well and why?
5) Define your audience from that fit
Only now move to the question of audience.
- Who are the people for whom this way of working is a strong fit?
- In what situations or transitions do they typically find themselves?
- Which of these clients do you know well from experience?
Refine further:
- Who do you understand easily and work well with?
- With whom do you not easily find connections?
- Who benefits most from your approach?
With this reversed sequence, differentiation in coaching is achieved by being precise about the process and recognizing where it truly fits.
