I'm a big fan of niche startups.  It allows you to offer something that is very specific to the needs of a small group and people will find you if you make sure you can be found (think SEO).  One such startup in Raleigh, NC, is Local Eye Site (www.localeyesite.com), an online community for eye care professionals.  We spoke with Brad McCorkle, the President of Local Eye Site, to learn more about his new venture. NCSUB: What is your 30 second elevator pitch? Brad McCorkle: Local Eye Site is the premier online community for all eye care professionals.  Our mission is to support educational opportunities, foster professional development and enhance communication across all positions and specialties in eye care.  In the process of executing our mission, we've developed a significant following of eye care professionals.  The result for our customers is an outstanding place to raise the online awareness of your practice and it's recruiting needs. NCSUB: When did you start planning?  When did you launch? Brad McCorkle: I started planning Local Eye Site(LES) in the summer of 2007, and left my previous job to go full time with it April of 08. NCSUB: What is the background of you and your team? Brad McCorkle: I spent 13 years in sales, the last 5 in the Ophthalmic and Optometric industry. NCSUB: How are you funded? Brad McCorkle: We raised private funds by selling equity shares in LES. NCSUB: What is your revenue model?  Are you ad-funded? Brad McCorkle: We use a recurring revenue model.  We sell annual memberships to eye care practices and organizations.  Members are allowed to post as many positions as they need during the year, as well as, access our database of potential "eye care job seekers."  We do also sell advertising via banner ads. NCSUB: How did you determine that there is a demand for the service you provide? Brad McCorkle: During my time in eye care sales I observed the need for a more effective and efficient way to recruit the kinds of specific training and experience needed in eye care.  Sales reps are often leaned on for recruiting help because the traditional methods aren't as effective as they need to be.  This experience made it clear to me that a resource like LES could be successful. NCSUB: How many members do you so far? Brad McCorkle: Site traffic so far is roughly 16,500 visits by about 10,200 individuals. 1,100 professionals in 33 states have registered for free accounts to our site.  We have 25 paying customers so far. NCSUB: Is the plan to go national? Brad McCorkle: Yes, we're slowly expanding into other states and our plan is to go national. NCSUB: When do you expect to be profitable? Brad McCorkle: Our goal is to be profitable in year 2.