The Role of Market Research

Look Before You Leap Into That New Business

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Many failed businesses should never have been started in the first place, as their owners would have discovered with a little preliminary investigation. That’s why market research is necessary even before a business opens its doors. Answering a few questions before launching a new business can save time, trouble, and money later.

Before starting a business, you should perform an informal feasibility study. If this study indicates saved your time and money for a more promising enterprise. But if this study shows your business idea has good potential, you’ll have the satisfaction and increased confidence from knowing you have a sound business idea. You’ll also have gained an increased understanding of the business.

While the terms “market research” and “feasibil­ity study” may sound complicated and technical, they merely involve getting the answers to a few simple questions, and then thinking about how the answers apply to your venture. When considering any new venture, use the checklists in the Business Assessment section to determine whether that particular business is right for you, and whether the business idea has any serious flaws. Once you’ve done this, you’re ready to conduct some market research.

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Launching a new business, introducing a product or service, and buying advertising are all so expensive that misjudgments can mean disaster for a small business. Market research can avoid costly errors by telling you what people want to buy and how they want it presented to them.

Regardless of how great you think your product is, if s virtually impossible to sell any product or service that people don’t want. On the other hand, it’s very easy to sell people what they do want. That’s the whole point of market research — to find out what people want so you can provide it for them. To be successful, a business has to know its market – who its customers and potential custom­ers are and how they perceive its products and services.

Market research is the way to obtain, analyze, and interpret the information necessary for making marketing decisions. It provides the timely information you need to:

■reduce your risks

■identify and profit from new opportunities

■improve existing products

■plan and refine advertising campaigns

■spot problems and potential problems

■evaluate alternative distribution channels

Fortunately market research doesn’t have to be expensive. Although large corporations often spend millions of dollars for market research, a small business owner can accomplish much for very little money. Initially you need to determine such things as whether there is a market for your product or service, how that market can be.

Дата добавления: 2014-11-29