“In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” – Carl Sagan, Astronomer Creating new products can be complex but it is not as complicated as the above quote suggests. Rather, I think new products need to withstand a feasibility test, also known as a concept test. This feedback…
You own a small business and don’t have a lot of money for market research firms or consultants. What can you do to better understand your competition? Here are a few ideas: • Visit your direct competitor’s stores and talk to the sales staff; it is amazing what people will say. • Websites can be…
The market place may seem large, but it is really made up of many smaller markets with customers who share similar preferences or needs. These smaller markets are called market segments. Your target market is the market segment that you choose to serve. Yet, to truly serve your target market, you need to be able…
You may not be a blogger yourself, but reading blogs written by your competition and your customers may prove to be a great way to conduct market research. Increasingly blogs, along with forums, are becoming honey pots for people to gather insight and information about products, companies, and industries. Blogs and forums are creating communities…
Market research can be one the best uses of funds at a small firm, but, typically it seldom gets done. The reasons include lack of funds, little or no experience with market research, no time to do the research, and often the autocratic styles of entrepreneurs don’t allow for third party feedback. There are many…
That’s a quote from Vittorio Alfieri, an Italian dramatist considered the founder of “Italian tragedy”. OK, I had not heard of him either, until I saw the quote and looked him up on Wikipedia. Regardless, this quote reminded me that inspiration may be an important part of marketing and entrepreneurship, but no idea is so…
Show me a startup without a business plan and I will declare it a “rudderless” ship. For without a business plan to guide you, a business will just float along chasing one opportunity after the next, while ending up nowhere special. Business plans are not hard to write, but they do challenge you to think…
Maybe the smartest money ever spent by an entrepreneur is to conduct a “concept test” which is basic market research on an offering before you go to market. Concept testing can use qualitative or quantitative research methods; most commonly, qualitative tools such as in-person interviews and focus groups are chosen for their expediency and live…
James Surowiecki wrote “Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations” back in 2004. The book reinforced the now ubiquitous term called the “wisdom of crowds”. Used by academics and marketing gurus alike, the cliché tells us to listen to the needs, or better said,…
Innovation is the mainstay of niche marketing, yet your customer may not be able tell you what they will need in the future. And this makes sense if you think about it.