Online resources can make market research less daunting
Q: I’m planning to start a new business-to-consumer venture and the market research part of it has me worried. I don’t have any training or special skills in that area and I’m not sure I understand the techniques. Any tips to make the task less daunting?
A: The first tip is to stop considering market research a daunting task. It may take some time and some legwork, but it doesn’t require special or complex techniques. In fact, you can easily access a lot of useful data and information online.
The first thing you need to know as a prospective business owner is whether or not there are enough potential customers to make your startup a worthwhile venture.
You can find that data free of charge at the U.S. Census Bureau’s website, census.gov. One of the site’s tools is The American FactFinder, which gives you population information by state, county, city, town or ZIP code. You can then drill down to get demographic information such as age, gender, race, education and income level to see if there are enough of the right kind of consumers out there.
Another key piece of information you’ll want relates to your competition. Google makes researching your competition a piece of cake — you can simply search online for businesses similar to the one you plan to open. Then, go to their websites and Facebook pages to learn more about them, such as what they charge, their marketing tactics, and how their customers rate them.
Other good sources for learning about both your potential customers and your competition are your local chamber of commerce and your industry association. Your chamber will have all kinds of information about the local community. Plus, they typically host networking and other events where you can talk to people who might be potential customers and ask them what they think about your proposed business.
Your competitors will likely belong to either the chamber or industry association or both, and you can gather intelligence through those connections.
Other ways to get firsthand information include focus groups and phone or mail surveys. If you want to spend a little money, you can hire companies that will conduct these for you. They’ll find a representative sample of your target customer and ask them some pointed questions about your planned business, such as if they’d buy from you and why, how often and if your prices are on target.
The Houston Public Library has a wealth of resources to help you learn about your market and your customers. Recently, the library began offering a free monthly workshop in collaboration with the UH Bauer College SBDC to explain how to utilize the business collection at the Central Library and how to access the online resources.
The next session is June 13 at the SBDC’s Fannin Street facility in Midtown. Register at sbdc.uh.edu.