The Art of Standing Out: Finding your Business Niche with Robert Brawner

May 7, 2024

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Great business often starts with a need that hasn’t been met. Whether you’re operating in an emerging field, or offering a new service within an established industry, a good niche holds unique potential for your company. Our guest Robert Brawner knows this from experience.

As an environmental consultant and the founder of One Consulting Group, Robert was carrying out health and safety assessments, digging out landfills, and removing asbestos before climate change was on everyone’s mind. He started in his field in the 1990s, when environmental regulations were not a primary concern in real estate construction and development, and built two successful environmental consulting firms in Atlanta, Georgia. Thirty years later, his field is booming and he is still at the heart of the action, with a boutique business and clientele he has intentionally nurtured.

So in this episode, Robert reveals how to identify a good business niche, and dig in! We unveil the strategies that helped him seed his company, and reflect on the forces at play within the environmental industry today. We draw lessons from Robert’s inspiring professional journey to find out how to keep business flowing even through changing partnerships and financial crashes.

Tune in with Robert Brawner for a lesson in motivation and resilience.

Highlights:

Robert Brawner’s professional background (2:31)
How to explore your niche and gather information (4:15)
Unpacking the “Blue Ocean” strategy (5:52)
Getting into Environmental Consultancy in Atlanta (7:07)
How Robert became a partner at his first firm (8:43)
Developing environmental consultancy in the commercial space (10:04)
Growing your clientele within your niche (11:56)
Switching gears before the 2008 financial crash (13:15)
“When you leave a business relationship, don’t burn bridges” (15:05)
Pivoting in the property development market after 2008 (16:45)
How the Atlanta Beltline gave One Consulting Group a new lease on life (17:34)
Property redevelopment: adapting & reusing building sites (19:50)
The effects of climate change on Robert’s practice (22:08)
Convenience, consistency, connection: the Japanese approach to client relationship (24:18)
Advantages of keeping business at a boutique scale (27:22)
“Now is a great time to grow” (30:02)

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If you have questions about the show or topics you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producers, Natalie.Barron@cadencebank.com, Eydie.Pengelly@cadencebank.com, or danielle.kernell@cadencebank.com.