When starting up a business, the most challenging aspect is coming up with an idea or product that will be niche targeted so that people will buy it quickly, but will also be unique enough such that there aren't already dozens of similar products in the market. This is one of the most difficult, and important, phases of an entrepreneurial journey, and can become very discouraging, very quickly.

It is not uncommon for an entrepreneur to feel as if the market is highly saturated: every conceivable product idea seems to be already out there in the market, leaving little room for new entrants. But the fact remains that new products are launching all the time, and there are still many opportunities to capitalize on.

In this post, we will talk about some ways of finding a profitable niche product that you can sell at your online business.

Often, some of the best products come through someone’s personal vision, or passion to see an idea turned into reality. As an entrepreneur, this will be your natural starting point, and you will want to sell a product that you feel most passionate about. If you’re an artist, you will most likely set up an ‘art and craft’ venture. If you’re a tech enthusiast, you will probably consider making or buying gadgets to sell online.

Many entrepreneurs start this way and achieve success through their passion and know how. Think about your passion or expertise; what can you make well that can be marketed? Focusing around your interests is the best way to come up with a new and unique product idea. This know-how can come from your personal interests, hobbies, or even your professional experience.

Keyword research is an important part of any online business. If used correctly, it can produce some very good product ideas that will actually sell. A major source of income for any online business is the amount of organic traffic it generates (people who use a particular search query in a search engine to get to your product). The key to getting more organic traffic is to do some keyword research.

Keyword research tools show you the monthly volume of searches made on a search engine against a particular search query. They will also show you the level of competition for each query. These pointers should help you identify which product niche you should target by considering search queries that are high in volume but low in competition.

One of the easiest ways of coming up with a product idea is to look at products in online marketplaces that are already trending. It gives you an idea of the things people are buying. Categories such as "Most Popular", "Highest Rated", and "Most Wishlisted" should give you an idea of what type of products are selling well, and what companies are delivering products that are satisfying customer needs. All this information should help you get ideas for your own products.

When looking at other products online, take a look at customer reviews. They will tell you a lot about consumer expectations. These reviews will also help you find openings in the market by identifying products that are not satisfying customer needs; hence alternative products can be made and sold through better customer service, taking revenue away from companies that are not delivering quality products.

Keeping an eye out for trends is important for every entrepreneur. A consumer-based society will spend a lot of money on the latest tech gadgets, fashion, and lifestyle items. If you're a clothing brand and there's a new sporting event coming up, or something has gone really viral on the internet, you can respond to it by creating custom printed T-shirts and hoodies, or manufacturing relevant merchandise items. Always stay ahead of the latest trends, and be on a lookout for anything that can give your business an edge, and then adopt to it.

Often times, customers will not buy your products simply because you make the best products. Customers buy a product to solve a problem or take away their daily life hassle. That is why cheaper and lower quality products can often out-compete higher quality products since they address customers' pain points just as well without adding any more headaches. As such, when marketing a product, customers will be much more receptive to your product if you highlight the pain points that your product addresses, and if customers can actually relate to those pain points.

For example, if you're a software company and want to sell an ERP software to a school or university, it would be wiser to identify the pain points of a typical school before pitching something like a "high performance, feature rich school management software." Maybe the school administration isn't looking for a bunch of features; instead, they might be more interested in a system that is easy to use and allows quick data entry for routine tasks such as taking attendance. Know your customers' pain points before coming up with a final product and marketing it.

Before launching a product in the market, conduct a few tests first. Release a small teaser video and create a landing page where people can add themselves to your mailing list. Run a small ad campaign, and even post questionnaires in your social groups. All this will help you determine whether people are interested in the product you're about to create or launch. This approach is better than to spend a lot of money manufacturing the product and bringing it to market, only to find out no one is really interested. If you're able to generate some interest for your product before launch, that's a good sign and a green light for you to go ahead and launch your product.

For any given product, there will always be competitor whether one that already existed, or one that follows you into the market. Always keep an eye out on the competition to see what they're doing. As long as you're not blatantly copying their products, there's no harm in taking inspiration from your competition and going a step further than them.

Generating ideas for a new niche product isn't easy, but can be done with the right approach. Always remember that the most successful products are those that generate consumer interest, address customer issues and are reliable (or extremely low-priced if they're not). Niche products can be marketed easily with the right customer-centric approach.