If you talk to someone who works in land development, you’ll generally find they have a particular market segment they target – in other words, they have a niche. Finding your niche is part of building a career, which is true in land development. So much of land development involves seeing a vision for a piece of property – what is its potential, and how can that be best accomplished? If you’re driving around looking at property, focusing on certain types of land usage is tremendously helpful. Training my eye to identify property with maximum potential is much easier when I focus on my specialties.
Developing a specialized area or niche takes time (and projects). I worked on various projects earlier in my career (including big-box commercial projects), but eventually found I was gravitating towards opportunities involving multi-family housing land usage. This drove my focus and kept me from spending time and energy on properties that didn’t fit the criteria needed for this type of development. Of course, I was willing to pivot and take advantage of opportunities outside my niche – being nimble in land development is crucial. I would say that this is similar to someone working in a specialized career – they should develop their skills and expertise to hold themselves out as an expert in a particular area, but not to the exclusion of pigeonholing themselves into a career niche that isn’t growing or viable. In other words, the ideal land development niche may change over time. Watching the trends can help identify if my niche is shrinking and if there are better opportunities in another area. Educating myself on the trends is key – I research, read, and network to keep current.