A Personal Approach to Market Research

Most customers are seeking a product that is tailored to their needs. For small business owners and other entrepreneurs, the challenge is to understand what makes a product able to satisfy the needs of a large enough demographic to make that product profitable.

There are a few things to consider when coming up with a good product line. First, who has a need for the product you want to sell, and how many of them are there? After all, even if you had the best product idea in the world, no one will care if they don't need it. How much would they be willing to spend in order to take care of that need? Lastly, does your proposed product meet that need in a way that will either save them or make them money? This information will be useful not only to help you determine the market for your product, but it will also offer vital information to help you secure financing for the venture and give you some background on your customers' spending habits.

In order to answer those questions appropriately, you need to be willing to be told where your idea misses the mark. Too often, business owners just don't take the time to clearly understand their customers (or their needs.) It's usually the entrepreneur who gathers as much information possible about their target demographic that's the most successful. In doing so, they usually employ two strategies: first, they try to sell the prospective client on the idea that they should become a customer. Then they listen to the person's objectives in order to better understand why the "perfect demographic" wouldn't buy the product.

Listening is the key to success. The successful business owner listens from the beginning, so they can change and adapt the product line more quickly to meet the needs of the market. By spending time listening to customer's complaints or issues before you ever start manufacturing your product, you'll be more likely to still be selling your product long after those companies who insist they know what's best for the customer.

Unfortunately, the main reason market research falls short for small business owners is because it can often be too massive a task to take on alone, and cost quite a bit of time and money. While these facts are unavoidable, one way to offset the drawbacks is to apply yourself to the task and make it your number one priority in life until it's finished. Sometimes this means allowing prospective customers to be brutally honest; as unpleasant as it is, it's really the only way to be successful.

You may think you can slide by with secondary market research because it's an easy way out, but this way of thinking is a trap. Especially for those of you who plan to tap into a largely unresearched market, there's just no substitute for self-sought, primary research. Secondary market research won't find you any funding, but proven facts from realistic prospects have a better chance.

Even entrepreneurs who have a tight budget can successfully perform decent market research if they are imaginative and practical. If you're on a budget you may feel like you can't apply any type of formal market research strategies, but all it really takes is a little "thinking outside the box" approach. First, figure out how you're going to perform the research; do you want to do a focus group, or take a more one-on-one approach? Then, create the materials needed to conduct the research-questionnaires, interactive materials, etc. Decide what demographic would be the group you're looking to sell to, and try to find individuals from that demographic to participate.

What business you're involved with will determine what the best approach will be. For example, if the market for your product is very specialized or otherwise highly targeted, you should consider calling them or using other forms of direct-sales methods. Identify what kind of person you plan on selling to, and have your "test subject" participate in a simulated sales call so you can better understand what interests them. If your product is geared towards a larger number of people, you may prefer to enlist the help of a small number of them for a focus group until you better understand the market, then follow up with a questionnaire of some kind.

Market research precedes any kind of selling technique. It helps you understand more about the people you're selling to, and tells you what you need to know to develop your product towards that niche. If your idea just isn't good or popular enough to warrant producing, that information is valuable too-and will potentially save you a lot of money and heartache. Maintaining an assertive attitude and positive outlook when conducting market research will enable you to decide if you should continue going in the same direction, or back up and take a different course.