Growing a business from niche to mainstream requires a unique approach to brand and product development; one of assimilation instead of innovation.
In general, a niche product is successful because 1) It has a feature or attribute can’t be found in any other product, and 2) That feature or attribute is much more important to its customers than any other of the category.
When looking for growth many niche businesses fail to accept that 1) Growth will be limited to the niche category and 2) Most people who consume a niche product also consume mainstream products. These insights provide a roadmap for growth not via innovating new features and attributes, but by assimilating mainstream features and attributes. This hybrid approach converts consumers who desire the benefit provided by the niche product but are unwilling to make the tradeoff(s) required.
Adding assimilated attributes successfully requires more than launching new products. It requires evolving the company into a challenger brand competing in the mainstream.