Market research can help your business
As a small business, there are many factors that are outside of your control and these things can affect your operation and profit. How can a business stay on top of industry trends and changes?
A business needs to be constantly assessing their market. By following market trends, you can have better success in understanding what is going on in your market, who are your customers, where are your customers, what are their buying patterns and what is your competition doing?
What tools and resources do you currently use to help guide you in your business operations especially as you make decisions for the future of your business? Do you monitor market trends and asses how that information could help guide your operations today and in the future? Better decisions today will allow you to make better decisions and investments to drive future profitability.
Market research can help you identify potential new markets and new customers and even help direct you as you are assessing your product pricing, competitiveness and the promotion of new products in existing and new markets. Credible market research can provide you with strategic insight on industry trends and will give you the confidence to make informed decisions. This information can assist you with your business planning and decision making now and in the future. You can obtain information on growing, emerging and shrinking markets, latest industry intelligence to guide your marketing and, as well as information to benchmark your performance against other competitors in the industry.
APEX Alberta has access to industry research reports. We subscribe to a database that contains published industry research reports spreading across five major economies: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. The market research reports contain information on operating risk and opportunities, statistics and analysis on market characteristics, operating conditions, current and future trends. The reports are updated regularly to ensure you can access the latest data so that you can assess the state of your industry and its direction considering current and future trends.
To find out more about our industry market research reports, please contact Community Futures Entre-Corp to find out whether there is a report available within the market that you operate. Here is a short list of some of the market reports we have provided to businesses in the past: electronic & computer repair services in Canada, bottled water production in Canada, tax preparation services in Canada, office staffing & temp agencies in Canada, renewable power in Canada, transmission line construction in Canada and many more.
A local company has utilized our market research services and was willing to explain how they utilized a market research report which was provided by Community Futures EntreCorp. Hyperion Research Ltd. is a local company that provides water sample analysis and research support to private industry and government. Most of its work is out of province so local advertising and market research isn’t useful but industry trends are crucial. The few competitors that Hyperion has for its core business are much larger companies who compete in a very small marketplace. That leaves the company vulnerable to price squeeze as larger labs look to diversify their client base and service offerings. Reports on market conditions, future outlook and future trends are a great help when decisions affecting the bottom line need to be made. Regulatory issues that affect laboratory operation and water quality monitoring are particularly important and up-to-date information is always welcome because the company can’t afford to do extensive market research.
APEX Alberta will also be hosting a free business event called “Do it yourself market research: assessing industry and market information” on October 19, 2017. If you would like to register for this free event, please call me at 403-528-2824.
Elizabeth Blair is the regional innovation network coordinator for APEX. APEX supports the growth of innovative and technologicallyoriented businesses in Southeast Alberta. APEX is a collaborative initiative between three core service providers: Community Futures EntreCorp, Medicine Hat College and Alberta Innovates.