The world of retail is filled with big hitters – so many that it’s difficult to keep track of top brands.

None of this is helped by Amazon, a company which dominates the headlines and squashes other retailers under its gargantuan feet. Looking at the profits of Amazon, which were reported to be $72.4 billion in the last financial quarter of 2018, the advances of an SME look meagre by comparison.

Take Amazon out of the equation, however, and you’re left with many businesses that are finding their feet after struggling in the midst of the online revolution of the early 2000s.

The companies that have maintained their success are notable for their specialist appeal. Niche companies are the name of the game when it comes to profits. Find the right audience and you’ll make plenty of cash.

To prove our point, we’ve selected a few businesses that have profited from specialisation.

Oakwood Doors

Tradespeople regularly require new physical materials. Whether they’re joiners, electricians, painters or bricklayers, nary a day goes by without them having to drive their vans to the nearest DIY provider for new screws, light fittings or doors.

It’s a fact of business that Oakwood Doors knows well. This company provides doors, dividers, sidelights and skirting boards to tradespeople and the general public alike. Operating from their base in the North of England, the staff of Oakwood Doors have transformed a simple operation into a UK-wide success story.

At the time of writing, Oakwood Doors is entering its fifteenth year of business – and it shows no signs of slowing down.

Verdant Leisure

The swathes of beautiful British countryside are usually ignored by the vast majority of people living in the UK, but holidaymakers go wild for them.

These unspoiled patches of greenery are becoming like gold dust as industrialisation wears on, and yet the British Isles is replete with a wealth of countryside that resembles few parts of the western hemisphere.

Our collective thirst for the great outdoors has been monopolised upon by Verdant Leisure, a customer-facing holiday park company with residences in Scotland and the north of England.

Launched in 2010, the company has ballooned in size to reap profits of £31 million for 2018-2019, in part thanks to its impressive locations. To thrive in the bear-pit holiday sector is no mean feat – and Verdant Leisure are no slouches when it comes to fending off the competition.

Tech Will Save Us

Tech companies are in a tight spot – be too innovative and they’ll end up looking faddish, too conservative and they’ll trail behind their competitors.

Tech Will Save Us seem to have struck a perfect balance between the two. Their innovative idea helps children engage with coding more effectively and keys into a noticeable skills gap currently facing the UK’s tech sector.

And it’s been readily accepted by schools – their products have been given to over one million children in the UK.

That’s our list! What retail SMEs do you think deserve a nod? Let us know in the comments below!