Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from David Smith. Please read more about David in the bio footer.
Market research is a vital part of starting up any business, and continued success for existing businesses. It may seem like a mystery or something that is hard to do, but it basically boils down to smart research and evaluation of the data you collect.
Every business needs to know what products or services are needed, the target audience you’re trying to reach, the best way to go about offering your goods and services to potential customer, and how to hold onto current customers. For a small business this can mean the life or death of your company.
Before you jump in and spend a lot of your hard earned money and valuable time on market research, here’s ten things you should take care of before and during your market research for your small business.
1. Make a business plan. You need a plan to succeed. Think of it as your road map to success. You probably wouldn’t plan a cross country trip without a plan of which roads you were going to travel and how you’re going to fund it. The same thing is true in business. You need to know where you’re going and how you’re going to get there to be successful.
2. Decide if there is a need for your product or service. Conduct market research on the product or service you want to offer. Make sure there is a viable need for it. Successful businesses answer a need a community has, even if the community is online and global.
3. Is what your small business offers just like a million others out there? If so how can you make your service or products stand out? Take the time to research what your competition is offering, and then you can make plans to make yours stand out from the crowd.
4. Identify the benefits your products or services offer to people. You have to be able to tell people why they need what you are offering and what it is going to do for them.
5. Identify your target audience. Do you want to target young people with disposable incomes, middle age couples who need to save money, or is your target audience retirees? Your target audience will make a difference on how you present your business.
6. How big do you want to go? Do you want to target your local area or do you want to build a global market? Either one is fairly easy now with the availability of the internet if you have a plan and a website that is properly written, designed and takes advantage of quality SEO.
7. Decide on how you will conduct your market research. Will you do it on your own or will you hire a company to do it for you. You can do market research yourself with a computer or at the library, but if you are busy or unsure on how to go about it, you may want to hire a company to do it for you.
8. If you decide to do market research on your own, there are some cheap and easy ways to do it. You can run a poll on your website or Facebook page, hold a question and answer seminar on Twitter, send out polls via email, and talk to people in person.
9. Once you collect the data, analyze it carefully. Be sure the data collected was from a large enough group of people or sources. If not, you won’t have a true representation of the market.
10. Take action. Don’t just do market research and then file the information away. Take it seriously because it is telling you how to improve or start your small business.
Complete market research on a regular schedule. Very few small businesses are successful after they become stagnant. You have to stay on top of the ever changing wants and needs of consumers. If your sales are beginning to wane, consider moving on to other services or products.
Your small business is like a living thing. It needs to keep growing to stay healthy. Don’t be afraid to do market research. It will only benefit your small business, and help you to know what people need, and how you can offer it to them.
A final word on market research is the importance of a website. Every business, no matter how small, needs a website. Websites are invaluable tools for a business. You can tell your visitors about you and your business, why you’re the one to get what you offer from, collect emails for future campaigns, poll your visitors, connect and build community, and help to set yourself up as an expert in your field.
With a well built and planned out website, a business plan in hand, and well researched and analyzed market research, your small business with not only be successful, but thrive.
I am glad that I found this information. I am the type of person that loves to be inspired. Whether it be with regards to home life or business – forex trading … This blog has some great posts and your posts inspire me to be productive and has given me ideas to move forward.
Alex Cross@forex education recently posted..Free Forex trading Applications for iPhone and Android
When you say it like this it sure is a lot to plan and firgure out before starting…I mean i always knew that starting my own little business would not be easy but this list sure made it even harder.
Thank you,looking forward to more articles like this.
Yes, most people think they can just jump in and makes lots of money, which is why so many businesses fail.
Small businesses often find themselves in a challenging situation. These businesses have a great need for reliable answers to important questions that all organizations face:
How are market trends impacting my business?
How does our target market make buying decisions?
What is our market share and how can we increase it?
Nicholas Scott@How to Write Web Based Press Releases recently posted..Personal Benefits Trump Environmental Issues for Workers in the Cloud
Planning is essential. I couldn’t agree more. However, I think that lots of people make a mistake by not sticking to the plan they have laid out for themselves. Sure, you have to be flexible, but I believe that lots of them get lost somewhere in the way.
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Marketing research is “the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information . And that information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process.
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Hi David,
Very thorough list and detailed article. I believe most small business start out very enthusiastic and if the first few months are a success, they put away their business plan, market research and let their website stale out. The loose their potential because they become too comfortable and kinda lazy. It takes a lot of dedication, work and love of what you are doing to pull off a successful small business. By following your plan, it could make it all happen for them. Thanks for sharing.
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For starters, there should be a strategy in every endeavor a businessman should have. The important things are the basics. Firstly, you should have the understanding of what you are venturing in. Identify the means and the setbacks that are part of a business, the risks itself should not be neglected. Then the will or love of it. One must have the heart to accomplish such steps.
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Good article,
These are just some of the fundamental things that need to happen. In my experience most people do some of all these steps but then don’t do step 10 and go with their gut only to default rather quickly. The other problem is cash-flow. How you are going to make money and how you use that to establish yourself.
Looking at your competition is often a great idea, they seem to be successful then there is a need the only question is can you do it better and are there enough customers that want a better service.
Nik
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