The importance of carving out your niche
Future Work/Life is a weekly newsletter that casts a positive eye to the future. I bring you interesting stories and articles, analyse industry trends and offer tips on designing a better work/life. If you enjoy reading it, please SUBSCRIBE HERE, and share it!
Thanks for all the messages about last week’s newsletter, Time for a nappucino?, which were all resoundingly positive. I’m not sure why I thought that the idea of napping would split opinion, but the feedback suggests we’re all in need of a little extra sleep and some inspiration for an energy boost in the middle of the day!
This week, I’m returning to a previous topic and introducing a couple of themes that are threading through my new podcast series that will launch in two weeks.
When I wrote New ways of working offer reasons for optimism, I had a dual motive.
The first was to share the growth of this new decentralised way of working with people who aren’t as familiar with it. In so doing, I was keen to show that while there’s plenty of anxiety and concern for the near and distant future out there, the emergence of new platforms and communities demonstrates once more our capacity to innovate and produce creative solutions to challenges, both practical and existential. Namely, what do you do when businesses must react to short-term financial pressures, while the broader economy adapts to the perpetual growth of global markets (and our access to them) and convergence of game-changing technologies?
My second objective was simple: share the names of some great new businesses that can provide value both to individuals pursuing a solo career, whether by choice or not. Based on the numerous conversations I had after the newsletter, with subscribers, as well as many of their friends, family and other connections, there’s plenty of demand for this shift in working practice for the various reasons I outlined.
I chatted to Sandeep Dhillon at leading online staffing platform Talmix, for example, who confirmed that while the business has been growing for several years, they’ve seen a spike in demand since March, reflecting what he described as a trend towards:
“The decoupling of work from employment”.
Talmix now connects over 50,000 experts with companies that require strategic consultancy on areas such as digital transformation. The ‘talent’ respond to what are essentially mini-RFPs (requests-for-proposal) via the platform, entering into, on average, three-month contracts to deliver projects which, by nature, require a high level of expertise.
Whereas a company may previously have brought a full-time member of staff and, indeed, a full team to fulfil these requirements, they can now acquire higher calibre talent, with less risk, and, in total, lower costs.
Talmix provides a platform for people to monetise their skills better while also offering the variety that comes with different projects and the freedom to work when and where they wish. Sandeep told me that given the comparatively high day rates that the experts can earn, they see cases of people making enough over a six-month contract that they can then take a few months off work. Sounds good to me!
A portfolio career is in many ways the epitome of flexible work – not in the way we’ve understood it previously, where we allow people to have the odd Friday off, or work-from-home occasionally. Instead, done right, and with a clear plan of why and how to leverage your individual interests and skills, a portfolio career offers the chance to take control of your time without sacrificing your finances or intellectual curiosity.
Ben Legg is, amongst other things, the CEO of a start-up called the Portfolio Collective, which supports people pursuing a portfolio career.
This week, I interviewed Ben for the upcoming podcast, and he outlined how the idea for The Portfolio Collective was born out of the conversations he kept having with people during the early part of lockdown.
“The idea for The Portfolio Collective came during lockdown when loads of people came to me asking me for career advice. As lockdown went on, it became clearer and clearer that there are a lot of people either being laid off or on furlough and not many permanent jobs on offer. And yet there was loads of part-time roles and interim work, as well as other ways to make money that weren’t a full-time job.”
After starting a weekly workshop in which Ben discussed the principles of a portfolio career, why they’re booming and how to build one, he decided to create a platform for portfolio professionals. The company provides training, learning resources and, importantly, a community to collaborate, as well as share knowledge and ideas, which is critical because while the theory sounds fantastic, as with any portfolio, it’s only as valuable as its’ individual assets.
You’ll be able to hear the full interview in a few weeks, but I wanted to highlight something that jumped out at me during our conversation. Ben made a point about successful portfolio careers, that is equally as true for those of experts using Talmix or, indeed, new start-ups emerging from these challenging times. As location-based barriers are removing the need for businesses to recruit locally or only work with partners in their own backyard, carving a niche is critical.
For example, Ben told me about how by combining a drone obsession with his day-job, one of The Portfolio Collective’s members has now positioned himself as the leading Drone Lawyer. While this reduces the overall size of the potential market for his services, there’s no doubt that if you need legal advice related in any way to drones, you know who to call.
I love this concept, and it’s something I’ve written about previously. I’m a big fan of Christopher Lochhead, number one business podcaster and bestselling author of Play Bigger and Niche Down, who’ll also be joining me on the podcast in the coming weeks. Through his advocacy of category design, Christopher lays out the most convincing case you’ll find of the importance of becoming known for a niche you own. As he puts it in his book, Niche Down:
“Most of us are tricked into believing that achieving personal and professional success means fitting in. What it really takes is the courage to stand out.”
As we know, in times of great change, opportunities present themselves. So why not take this chance to consider what makes you different, and introduce the world to your unique way of thinking and solving problems?
Have a nice weekend, everyone.
Ollie
We all love a bit of Ikigai, so who better to explain it’s origins and how to practice it than the guy who wrote the book. Here’s a link to an interview with Hector Garcia, million bestselling author of Ikigai: the Japanese secret to a long and happy life, on the Notion podcast.
Earlier this year, Daniel Susskind released an amazing book on the emergence of AI and how that will affect the future of work. Rather worryingly, it’s called A World Without Work: Technology, Automation and How We Should Respond. This week, he also wrote an interesting article on a (free-to-read) article in the FT titled, Offices have a future — but what about other workplaces?.
Last week, I shared a link to an a16z podcast the future of audio. This article by Matthew Ball is a long read, but well worth it. Audio’s Opportunity and Who Will Capture It
And finally, this one is behind a paywall (although you’re allowed a few free articles a month) but given the approach of some of our global leaders right now, it one seems perfectly timed. Today’s Leaders Need Vulnerability, Not Bravado by Amy C. Edmondson and Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic in the Harvard Business Review.