Market Research: I love market research. It is the key to everything in a business plan. I usually do market research once I have an idea about a business. It is silly to think the rest of the world thinks the same way I do. Actually I was in a sales training once that said only 25% of people really understand what you are saying because everyone thinks differently. Business is a form a communication so why is it any different.
Good business is a communication between two beings. They can be people, or business, or markets, or governments. This is simple to understand, however if only 25% of the people can understand what my business is saying “WE HAVE A FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE”. What I am trying to say here is that just because we have a great idea it doesn’t mean the rest of the world sees it the same way. So how to figure out if they like your idea or not.
Here are some ways:
- Spend lots of money on expensive market research ( I looked in to this for Mechanixloop.com it would have cost us upwards of 20k to have a firm ask people questions, I sat out side of a Publix one afternoon and found out the same info for free)
- Start a business on a hope and prayer
- Do your own research
I favor number 3. It is easy to do research on markets these days. Just use the internet. You can look up everything from how many business are in a particular sector by their SIC or NAICS codes (all of this info is free from Uncle Sam on the GOV census pages). You can see how many people are searching for certain terms (Google Trends), and use Google in creative ways to see if there are people in the market making money.
Research is not hard if you understand it is just figuring out a couple things. How many people are there in your market, and what do they want or need. If you think of people as stupid and not willing to change (like a herd of cattle) than market research becomes much easier. Now if you are reading this please not I am not calling you a cow, but think how we act as a culture at large. It has been well documented about how we act with regard to others, and the herd mentality. So market research is figuring out how big is your herd and if they will move to your beat.
For some great places to do market research please check out
- Brandeo: . You will find tons of useful places to do market research.
- US Census
- Melissa Data
- WordTracker
- Ebay Pulse
- Google Groups
- Trade Publications and Blogs
