Most people get stuck before they start. Not because they lack skills. Not because they lack ideas. Because they're asking the wrong question.

"What's my niche?"

I hear this one constantly. And every time I do, I want to ask a different question back: where is the money already flowing?

Because here's the thing — there's a gold rush happening right now. AI. Automation. People inside organisations are panicking. They don't know how to use these tools, their teams don't know, their processes are breaking, and they are spending money to fix that. Real money. Already.

The gold rush is live. And while most people are still sitting around asking what their niche is, someone else is already in the pit selling shovels.

The Shovel Thesis

During the original California Gold Rush in the 1850s, the people who got rich weren't usually the miners. They were the ones selling picks, shovels, and denim jeans to the miners. Levi Strauss didn't pan for gold. He sold pants to the people who did.

That's the frame I use for any business decision about where to play.

Find the gold rush. Sell shovels.

In 2026, the gold rush is AI adoption inside businesses, teams, and corporate environments. The miners are the companies and the individuals trying to figure out how to use these tools without losing their jobs or their edge. Your job, if you're building a coaching or consulting business in this space, is to be Levi Strauss — not the miner.

Anything else is a distraction.

Why "Find Your Niche" is the Wrong Starting Point

I'm not saying niche doesn't matter. It does, eventually. But the sequence most people follow is wrong.

They start with: what am I passionate about? What do I want to be known for? What's my personal brand?

That's building a house before you've found the land.

The smarter sequence is:

1. Find where money is already moving.

2. Figure out what shovel you can provide to the people spending it.

3. Start selling that thing immediately — before you've named your brand, chosen your colours, or written your about page.

4. Let the market tell you what they need, then build the brand around that signal.

Most people do this in reverse. They spend three months building the brand before they've made a single dollar, and then wonder why it feels like they're pushing water uphill.

The Belief Gap

Here's what I keep running into. I talk to people with real credentials — 10 years in a corporate AI team, or a background in data engineering, or they've been running internal Copilot training for their company — and they're sitting on that experience like it isn't worth anything.

Meanwhile, someone half their age with a fraction of the experience is already charging $500 a month for a community and posting three times a week and building a waitlist.

The difference isn't competency. It's belief.

The 22-year-old doesn't know enough to be scared. They just started. They didn't wait until they felt ready. They didn't spend six months figuring out the perfect positioning. They just pointed at the gold rush and started selling shovels.

The people with 10 years of actual experience are waiting for permission that's never coming.

You don't need more credentials. You don't need a better niche. You need to believe that what you already know is worth something to someone who doesn't know it yet.

Three Things That Actually Move the Needle

Once you've found your gold rush, here's what to actually do. Not a 12-step framework. Three things.

1. Get content going out consistently. Doesn't have to be polished. Doesn't have to be viral. It has to be real, regular, and pointed at the right people. LinkedIn is where your actual buyers are if you're in a B2B space. Start there. Post what you know. Do it three times a week.

2. Build a waitlist — not just an email list. These are different assets. Your email list is people who wanted your free thing. Your waitlist is people who raised their hand for your paid thing. Most creators skip the waitlist and then wonder why their launch flopped. Add a single line to the bottom of your emails: "I'm building something for this — click here if you want first access." That's it. Auto-tag. Done. When you come back in two months with 500 intentional signups, you'll know whether your offer is real before you've built a single thing.

3. Run a 30-day indoctrination sequence after every signup. Someone lands on your email list. You send them their freebie. Then what? If the answer is nothing, you've got a problem. Six months later when you try to launch, they've forgotten who you are. The fix is a short automated email sequence — not 30 emails, maybe eight to ten spread over a month — that tells your story, shares your best thinking, and turns a stranger into someone who actually knows you. Use your existing content. Take the transcript from your last 10 videos. That's your sequence. A weekend of work. The highest ROI thing you'll do all month.

The Simple Test

Before you spend another hour on your brand, your website, or your positioning, answer this question honestly:

Is there a gold rush already happening in the space you want to play in?

If yes — are you selling shovels yet?

If no — why not?

The market doesn't care about your niche. It cares about whether you can help it with what it's already struggling with right now.

Find the rush. Sell the shovels. Get in the pit.

The good guys should be winning this one.