At first glance it seems that finding a niche in an extremely competitive business market is like looking for the proverbial 'needle in a haystack'. And in some ways it is...

However the challenge is not the "finding" but in the "looking." Finding a niche is actually the easy part - knowing where to look is the challenge.

Everday, in every location, opportunities arise with the prospect of being capitalised upon. New products. New services. New ways of doing things. In fact, I would not hesitate in making the assumption that there are more niches available to exploit today than were available 10 years ago. Many of them will allow some of your dreams to be realised while others will exceed your wildest expectations.

So where are they?

They're probably right in front of you.

Let me give you an example; Fivecentnickel.com shares a story about an enterprising shop owner who profited from capitalising on a current need. He was able to earn a high profit margin and retain a monopoly with a captive audience.

Darren Rowse of Problogger.net also gives an example of the umbrella salesman who would pitch his "shopfront" whenever it rained. The result; another monopoly that cordoned a niche and succeeded in an already flooded market (no pun intended!).

Bill Gates saw an opportunity to have a PC in every house running Microsoft software. Until then, the market was fractured, geek-ridden, and GUI stood for Geek User Interface because no-one else understood DOS.

People are the answer to your question!

Find out what they need right now or may possibly need in the future and service that need. Here's some ideas to get you started; Health and Fitness niches and 10 ideas you could exploit today.