The aspect of carrying out market research for any startup business is very important for new business ideas.
Its not always enough to come up with a big time business idea, but rather its about knowing the number of people who may be in need of such products and services and it doesn’t just end at knowing such numbers but rather its about knowing how best to convert the bulk of your prospects clients/costumer into actual paying customers.
Irrespective of the creative business idea that an entrepreneur might come up with, two things are always certain, the idea might be focused on solving small scale problems in a market, others are highly focused on Big time , or primarily big shot achievements.
So with all this in mind it tends to beg the question of What is Market research and how to carry out a thorough Market research.
Why Is Market Research Important?
The main goal of carrying out market research is to help you know your existing competition and what you need to do to beat the competition, if someone has already ventured into business idea previously and failed, what it required take potential costumers to accept your business concept, and to determine if you’re darn sure you’d be willing to put in long hours, and even years of hard work, before you see any form of positive returns on your business venture.
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In some cases there are business venture that may not require you to carry out much Market research, such business may already have a large costumer base just waiting for your product, one of such is opening a bread bakery business.
Although some entrepreneurs could setup a new businesses without carrying out any form of market research and end up becoming very successful, but on a general scale, not running a detailed market analysis for that new business idea could be an oversight that might just undone your business especially if it is one that might now strive in your location. An example is setting up a laundry/ dry cleaning business in a rural area.
7 Ways To Do Effective Market Research
1). Interviews:
carrying out an interview basically having a face to face talk with people or the interview could also be done over the phone. By doing this you get to read the person’s physical reaction to your business idea, and also be able to see how badly they want or don’t want the product or service you’re trying to throw to the public.
2). Paid Surveys/ Online pool
Carrying out an online market research surveys is to get to know how people react to your product or service on a large scale, This survey would subsequently be reanalyzed to determine what they may rather respond to or not. By doing surveys, you collect quantitative or numerical information, and qualitative or descriptive information
3). Questionnaires:
Questionnaires and surveys may seem very similar, but in practice they’re not. Surveys aims to get reaction on a general view, examination, or a description.
It’s majorly the experience of a group of people, based on a series of information. While questionnaires usually comes in a set of choice of answers, sometimes online
4). Focus Groups:
Another way of carrying out an effective Market research analysis involves talking t a small number of prospects, customers client and even off-product consumers to get their contained feedback on your business propositions.
5). Social Media:
As you may already know the social media plays an important role in any big scaled business The social media has done nothing but increase the market-reach potential for any entrepreneur, marketer or brand expert looking to carry out some detailed market research on any business idea.
6). Free Market Data:
Free market data are usually information based off of already done research lying around the internet, a library, or some facility to be picked up
7). Paid Market Research:
If you have enough money on your budget, you could employ the services of market research companies to test the viability or non-viability of your business idea.
Although the method might be expensive you will be glad that you did a comprehensive market research for your business idea or startup venture.
Here are a list of Key Questions your Market Research should be able to answer.
1). Does Your Business Idea Solve Any Real Problem?
If your business idea does not solve problem or add any real value for money, then i think you might have to change your business concept.
2.Capacity and sustainability
Your market research should tell you more about the size or potential market reach of your business idea? Is your product or service needed globally, national? Or is it really small scaled business? If the size of the market does not have the potential to sustain the business for a long-term profitable and massive growth, then you should start thinking of venturing into another business.
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Common Market Research Problems
Some Market surveys and online pool could be rendered unproductive, due to the level of bias put into it. Marketers may create rather tricky set of question which will only give a set of answers that are expected.
Another issue that could arise from failed market survey is the poor design and presentation of some surveys. considerable amount of time and effort should be put in place to provide the best design for your business idea.
There’s also the issue of Non response To A Survey; You may have spent considerable amount of time and effort preparing a perfect market survey, but people might not respond to it as you expected.
While Non-response may look like a problem in carrying out an effective market research, it’s important you don’t press the panic button so soon. Take a few moments to identify what the problems are, adjust, then try again.
Final Words
Indeed it is always exciting when you come up with a great business idea, But don’t let this excitement cloud your judgement, which may tempt you to neglect carrying out a due market research process.
While there are success stories of entrepreneurs who founded companies out of business ideas that were based on a hunch and not rational facts, doing a good market research puts you on a good steed for success and also to avoid putting in cash you could end up washing down the drain
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