🧭 My Journey: From Banking to Building Digital Systems

In 2001, I left the corporate world of banking to work for myself.
First as a profit improvement consultant, then as someone turning around struggling businesses — and eventually, like many of you reading this, I wanted freedom.

By 2009, I’d tried a few ventures (including a bookkeeping franchise) but none truly fit. So, I did a simple tabletop exercise: I made two lists — what I wanted and didn’t want in a business.

Here’s what came out of it:

Low-cost to start
No stock, no creditors
Solopreneur setup (freelancers optional, no employees)
Location independent — work from anywhere
Time freedom and creative control

That exercise led me to the internet marketing and make-money-online niche — and it’s been my playground ever since. My first mentor was a lady called Ann Sieg and she was in the multi-level marketing niche teaching these marketers to generate leads. This is her YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/user/annsieg

Fast forward to today:
After years of trial and error, (and an 8 year sabbatical to study the deep state), I realised that AI had finally removed the technical barriers that used to hold solopreneurs back. Tools like ChatGPT, Groove.cm (now Scale.gg), automation, and custom GPTs now make it possible to run an entire business solo — with systems instead of staff. In other words the technical challenges have been de-skilled.

That realisation birthed IMMachines (which means ‘Internet Marketing Machines – ‘machines’ being a metaphor for ‘systems’ i.e. the idea that you could follow a step by step process to get a consistent result) — a creator ecosystem built to help people like you design AI-powered businesses that work while you live.

So now that you know the convoluted process that got me to where I am today, let’s look at some ideas for finding your niche.

The Lesson: There’s No Perfect Niche (and That’s the Point)

Miles Beckler’s Niche Navigator eBook echoes the same truth I learned back in 2009:

“Good enough is good enough. Clarity comes from action, not from thinking.”

Waiting for the perfect niche is fear in disguise.
You learn faster by choosing something good enough and moving forward than by endlessly researching.

You can always pivot later — but you can’t optimise a decision you never make.

That’s why Beckler challenges readers to find a profitable niche in one hour.
When you add a time limit, you replace paralysis with progress.

Step 1: Use Your Story as a Compass

Your niche isn’t just what’s profitable — it’s where your story and curiosity intersect.

Beckler calls this the Story Hook — the emotional bridge that connects your experience with an audience’s problem.

There are two ways to find it:

1. Choose a niche you already have a story in
   Reflect on the past 3–5 years.
   What have you struggled with, learned, or overcome that others still struggle with?

   Example: My “story” was struggling to build a sustainable online business pre-AI. That pain became my message and product foundation once AI removed the tech roadblocks.

2. Choose a niche you’ll build your story in
   You can document your transformation.
   If you’re learning fitness, investing, or spirituality, share that journey publicly — you become your own case study. (My blog posts document my journey! My first website was unfortunately hacked, so make sure that you are regularly backing up yours – my hosting company does this automatically but I also download a copy to my own computer as another back-up as losing everything is devastating.)

Step 2: Start Broad — Then Sub-Niche Down

Beckler outlines the “Big 5” money-making niches that never go out of style:

1. Health

2. Relationships

3. Business & Money

4. Personal Development

5. Lifestyle

These are the rivers of human desire.
But they’re too broad to stand out in — so you dive deeper.

For instance, under Business & Money, sub-niches include:

• Personal finance

• Debt relief

• Cryptocurrency

• Local business marketing

• Make money online (me and in the sub-niche of AI systems)

• Internet marketing (me)

Under Lifestyle, you could explore:

• Gardening

• Pets

• Homesteading

• Photography

• Gaming

• Video production

Each can be further refined into a “sub-subniche” — the smaller the pond, the faster you become the big fish.

Step 3: Validate Your Interest (and Sanity)

Beckler reminds us that your niche doesn’t have to be a “passion.”
It just has to be something you find interesting enough to stick with.

If you wouldn’t want to read about it, talk about it, or build a YouTube channel around it, it’s probably not for you.

Think long-term: success requires consistency, not obsession.

Step 4: Use AI to Accelerate Clarity

Before AI, finding your niche required endless keyword tools and competitor analysis.
Now, tools like IMMachines: From Stuck To Started GPT make that process frictionless.

This GPT helps you:

• Sort through your interests, strengths, and goals

• Score each niche by profit potential, enjoyment, and audience demand

• Identify low-competition micro-niches that match your story

• Output a short-list of 3-5 niches worth pursuing

It’s like a thinking partner that never gets tired of brainstorming.

You can use it after your “tabletop exercise” to instantly see where your personal experience and market demand overlap.

Step 5: Add Your Personal Touch

A niche only becomes yours when you humanise it.

Beckler emphasizes this step:

“When we sprinkle on those personal touches, that’s the secret sauce.”

Two people could teach the same topic — but your story, voice, and values make it unique.

For me, IMMachines isn’t just about selling AI systems — it’s about helping mature solopreneurs re-discover creativity, freedom, and purpose through systems.

That’s the emotional DNA behind the brand.

Step 6: Turn Your Niche Into a System

Once you’ve chosen your direction, your next step isn’t more research — it’s building the first brick.

• Write one post

• Build one funnel

• Launch one GPT

• Help one person

Action builds feedback loops.
Feedback builds clarity.
Clarity builds confidence.

And from there, the compounding begins.

As Rick Rubin says ‘The work reveals itself as you go‘

Step 7: Build Around Your “You” Story

Your niche will evolve with you — and that’s good.
Beckler says, “You’re not married to your niche.”
Each one teaches skills, credibility, and insight that compound into the next phase.

I started with make money online, evolved into creator systems, and now into AI-driven solopreneurship.

Each step used the last as raw material.

You might start in “weight loss for over-50s,” evolve into “mindset transformation,” then into “coaching systems for midlife creators.”

Let your business grow with your identity.

Step 8: Look for Story + Market + Leverage

The sweet spot of a profitable niche looks like this:

That’s how you turn your lived experience into a repeatable income stream.

Step 9: Practical Exercise — The One-Hour Niche Challenge

Beckler’s famous one-hour method:

1. Set a timer for 60 minutes.

2. List everything you’ve done, learned, or want to learn.

3. Match each to one of the Big 5 categories.

4. Circle 3–5 that give you a “gut ping.”

5. Research 10 minutes each — who’s teaching, what’s missing, what’s monetised.

6. Choose one. Start building.

Then refine with From Stuck To Started GPT — it’ll turn your shortlist into a confident decision.

Final Thoughts: The Power of a Decision

When I did my list back in 2009, I didn’t know it would lead here.
But that small act of clarity changed my life trajectory.

Choosing your niche is less about markets and more about identity — it’s declaring who you want to become and what you want to master.

So, stop searching for the perfect niche.
Choose one that feels “good enough,” commit to it for 90 days, and let your future self thank you for finally starting.

And if you need a structured partner to help you sort the chaos…

Try IMMachines: From Stuck To Started GPT — your AI-powered niche-decision companion for creators, coaches, consultants, and solopreneurs.