Usually, when we hear the word "niche", we think about market segments and subsegments based on clients, services and/or products:

Executive protection...
Surveillance cameras...
Retail loss prevention...

...etc.

But there are other ways to think about niches, which can be based on almost any of the variables that combine to create "security deliverables".

Think about a security deliverable, and you'll find that it's comprised of numerous elements. For instance, security patrol:

1. Geographical variable.
2. When/how often it's delivered.
3. Service profile (e.g., drive-through, door checks, etc.)
4. Billing model.
5. Reporting model and technology.

Suppose, for instance, that you implement a reporting model whereby the patrol officer triggers a report when he hits the property, and either enters "all-clear" or "problems found" information which is then uploaded to a database that the client can access from anywhere in the world.

Do you think you've created a niche within a niche? You bet.

You can create niches based on virtually any business operational variable, for that matter - anything that makes you "different from the crowd" - PROVIDED that the difference TRANSLATES DIRECTLY INTO OBVIOUS CLIENT BENEFITS.

You might have a better process for hiring officers, but that wouldn't be very obvious to a client.

On the other hand, you might create joint ventures with related firms in order to offer a coherent package of products and services that you can't provide by yourself. This WOULD create benefits that can easily be made OBVIOUS to clients.

Yet, this is really an operational niche that is created by the way you operate your company, and not on any particular market niche.