10 Information Sources For Initial Market Analysis

A successful entrepreneur will always be able to choose the right products and/or services his company will offer to the customers on the market on which also exists competition. Probably someone before you have started a similar company and offered some type of products or services for the same persons on the market that you are targeting. So, before anything else, you will need to do an initial market analysis.

If there is still no competition, it is obvious that you cannot expect that it will be the same situation for a long time. The right products and services that you will need to choose to sell to your customers will become available to you only after you make the initial market analysis.

Probably you are wondering why there would be a space for you to enter the market with products that current or future competition offer or will offer. We should always keep in mind that the market is something that will change very quickly. Products that have been offered and most popular five years ago no longer exist now. The way these products were sold five years is not the same as now, and today’s opportunities are bigger than yesterday.

Today there are thousands of products consumed by customers, and there are thousands of ways that your product and sales methods can be different from your current or future competition. Your job as an entrepreneur is to choose the right business idea, so the product and sales methods will be better than what is now offered on the market. This rule will continue to be true as your products and services will move through different levels of the product lifecycle.

Therefore, a critical element in this initial stage of your company is an initial market analysis.

In the next section of this post, I will provide some possible sources of information that can help you in successful market analysis in order to select the right product that your company will offer on the market.

1. Similar Business Locations as the Basis of Your Initial Market Analysis

Start with the streets and nearby streets where you plan to be located in your company. Start with the quantitative and qualitative analysis of existing companies in that place and closer and wider surroundings. Using this analysis you will gain a sense of what is already offered and who can be your possible competitor.

2. Products and/or Services

If you already have an idea, or you’re in a business with a particular product and/or service, then start with yourself, and continue with your family and friends. Think about whether you really need these products, would you buy them if you find yourself in the position of a buyer. Are these products something that you can give as a gift to your family or friends? Talk with your closes family and friends and ask them if they really need something like that and how often they will use it if they need it? In such a way, you can classify products in terms of their possible demand.

3. Demand Analysis Through Surveys

You can make a survey to additionally research the possible demand for those products. If you have a website or blog you can just do a survey for visitors, collect the answers, and then analyze them. You will get great insights into your customers and what they want.

4. Internet Forums

A second way to test the demand is to go to some of the web-based forums and open a topic for your future or current business in terms of different opinions about the product you plan to offer. One disadvantage may be that you still do not know what region or area refers to these opinions. On the other hand, you can get a bunch of useless answers in the form of the wrong direction. Therefore, although this method is worth trying, be careful.

Browse other topics at the forum that have some connection with your business idea and read and note carefully various opinions of different people. In such a way, you will create the image of a future offer and demand for the potential products.

5. Blog Post

If you have your business blog or personal blog you can take advantage to write a post about your ideas. Just elaborate on the idea and ask questions that visitors can respond to comments.

6. Statistics Bureau

On these websites, you can find monthly and annual statistical reports on various industries and activities under the national classification of activities where you can see how customers spend their money in different markets.

initial market analysis business

7. Newspapers, Radio, TV

Look at newspapers, radio, and TV to find specific ads for now offered products on the market. With a particular attention note about everything that is happening in your particular industry.

8. Potential Suppliers

Find potential suppliers for your company in the yellow pages. Call them and send your offer via fax or email. In such a way, you can receive valuable information about different offers.

9. Google

Google is the biggest database in the world with information from all possible areas or industries. Search Google for products that you analyze, you can get a bunch of valuable information that you can use in later stages of your business.

10. Hire Professionals

Finally, you can leave all of this to be finished by someone else, which will save much time, but on the other side will cost you money.