Insights — Channel Creation & New Revenue Streams — 3 min read
How to Grow Without Just Finding More of the Same Customers
When the cost of winning each new customer keeps rising and the market of 'more of the same' starts to look finite, the sensible next question isn't how to find more — it's whether there's a different type of customer the business is already equipped to serve.
In short
A business facing diminishing returns from its current customer type can often grow more sustainably by identifying an adjacent segment that values the same core strengths — product, expertise, reputation — rather than spending more to compete for an increasingly saturated original market. This requires validating that the new segment is reachable and genuinely wants what the business already does well, not assuming it automatically will.
Growth strategies default to the same move almost every time: find more customers who look like the ones already being served. It works well in the early years, when the addressable market is large relative to how much of it has been captured. It works less well once the obvious segment is largely won, and each additional customer costs more to acquire than the last.
At that point, the instinct is usually to spend more on marketing or hire more salespeople to chase the same pool harder. A different, often more productive option is to look at whether the business's existing strengths would also serve a different type of customer — one it isn't currently pursuing at all.
The warning signs that 'more of the same' is running out
A few signals tend to appear together when the existing customer segment is becoming saturated: cost per acquisition creeping up each quarter, sales cycles lengthening without a clear cause, win rates against the same competitors slowly declining, and a sense that everyone who was likely to buy from the business has already been approached at least once. None of these alone is conclusive, but together they're a reasonable signal that doubling down on the same segment has diminishing returns.
What an adjacent segment actually means
An adjacent segment isn't a random new market — it's a different type of customer who values the same core strength the business already has, reached through a similar or adaptable route. A B2B supplier to one industry might find its expertise is equally valuable to an adjacent industry with similar technical requirements. A business serving large accounts might find smaller accounts, served differently, represent an underused opportunity.
| Signal in current segment | Possible adjacent direction |
|---|---|
| Saturated in one industry vertical | An adjacent industry with similar technical needs |
| Only serving large accounts economically | A lighter-touch offer for smaller accounts |
| Only selling in one geography | An adjacent geography with similar buying patterns |
| Only selling B2B | A consumer segment that values the same product strengths |
Validate before committing serious resource
The temptation with an adjacent segment is to assume it will respond the same way the original market did, because the product and messaging worked well there. Buying behaviour, decision-makers, and what matters most to the customer can differ meaningfully even in a seemingly similar segment. A small, deliberate test — a handful of target accounts, a modest campaign, direct outreach — reveals far more than assumption.
A short framework
- 01Confirm the current segment is genuinely becoming harder to grow, not just underperforming due to execution.
- 02Identify a segment that would value the same core strength, reached through a similar or adaptable route.
- 03Test with a small, defined group before committing significant resource.
- 04Decide how the new segment will be resourced without diverting from the segment still funding the business.
- 05Set a clear point at which to judge whether the new segment is working.
When the right fix is the core business, not a new segment
Rising acquisition costs sometimes reflect a weakening competitive position, poor targeting, or outdated messaging in the existing market — problems a new segment won't fix and may simply replicate elsewhere. It's worth ruling out execution issues in the core business before concluding the answer is an adjacent segment rather than a sharper approach to the current one.
Evans' Channel Creation Programme helps established businesses identify genuinely viable adjacent segments and validate them properly before significant investment. It runs from £1,995 + VAT/month over six months, from £11,970 + VAT at starting price. Managed Channel Growth continues ongoing commercial management from £1,995 + VAT/month.
Could your business support another route to revenue?
Evans Channel Creation identifies, validates and builds additional revenue channels from capabilities a business already has — B2B to D2C, D2C to B2B, product to service, recurring revenue or partners — and says so plainly when a channel should not be built. Programme from £1,995 + VAT per month over six months.
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