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When my brother and I made it through the process of learning how to become a contractor and then finally started our niche business, most of the people in our lives supported what we were doing (thank goodness), but there were plenty of critics, too, as there always are. It’s hard enough to convince these types that business ownership is a worthwhile endeavor to begin with. So when they hear that your business is ultra-specialized it’s just that much more ammunition for them. The naysayers could be friends, family, former co-workers, you name it. Listen quietly to their speech and say little, but allow it to fuel the entrepreneurial fire within you. If you’ve done your research and know that a market exists for your service (especially an emerging one), you must learn to ignore those buzzing flies in your ear.
These days our business is on fire, and suffice it to say that most of the criticism has been silenced. The key is specific, targeted advertising. Google Adwords, for example, has been huge for our business. Internet advertising is still a confusing concept for many contractors and small business owners, but I can almost guarantee that if you give it a chance, you’ll be astounded by the results. By the way, if you don’t have a website for your business yet, what are you waiting for? More and more consumers are opting for Google and Yahoo and throwing away their phone books, so it’s high time you developed an internet presence – you won’t regret it! By leveraging the internet you can score huge numbers of free construction leads. We also send postcards to upscale homes that are obviously in need of our services, and this has proven to be effective as well. Be aggressive in targeting those that have a need for your service, even if the concept is a relatively obscure one.
The exciting thing to me is that we’re staking a local claim to an emerging type of service, and the pool of potential clients only grows larger with each passing year! The critics will never get it, but that’s just fine. 
The more numerous the cynics, the fewer the number of potential competitors you’re likely to encounter. The end result is that you could be positioning your company to be the dominant local player in a niche service that is about to explode.
My name is Jeff and I created this blog in 2007 to help and inspire contractors and home service providers. It’s come a long way since then.