Just about anybody can print up some business cards and say they “run a business”.
But in order to run a successful business, you need to learn all you can about your existing and potential customers, your competitors, and the economic conditions of the marketplace.
Market research is the process of gathering and analyzing consumer and economic data in order to help you understand which products and services your customers want.
Once you have this extremely important information in hand, you can figure out creative ways to differentiate your business from your competitors.
Please, please, please: Do not spend a great deal of money on starting a business without first doing market research.
If you need help, there is an excellent book that can help you:
So, You Want to Start a Business?: 8 Steps to Take Before Making the Leap
Market research can provide valuable insight to help you to:
- Reduce business risks
- Spot current and upcoming problems in the current market
- Identify sales opportunities
- Develop plans of action
The first thing you’ll want to do is identify your target market.
Who are you trying to sell your products or services to?
While we would all like to believe that everyone on earth is a potential customer and they will soon enough be beating a path to our doorstep – it’s simply not the way it is.
Your “target” is that person who is most likely to be interested in buying your product or service.
Just for a moment, take your emotion out of the equation and really think about your business and what you have to offer.
Who is more likely to be very interested in what you sell?
Men or women? Middle aged adults or senior citizens? Those on fixed incomes or those with lots of discretionary income?
Think carefully and use the questions below to help you define your target market:
- Where does your target live?
- Is your target primarily male or female?
- What age range will you likely find your target?
- Is your target a renter or home owner?
- What does your target do for a living?
- In what salary range is your target?
- How else can you define your target?
Once you have identified your target market, you can tailor your marketing campaigns to speak directly to them.
And hopefully you see the major benefit in that!