Market research is the process of systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about customers, competitors and the market. Market research can help create a business plan, launch a new product or service, fine tune existing products and services, expand into new markets etc. It can be used to determine which portion of the population will purchase the product/service, based on variables like age, gender, location and income level. It can be found out what market characteristics your target market has. With market research, companies can learn more about current and potential customers.
Market Research
The purpose of market research is to help companies make better business decisions about the development and marketing of new products. Market research represents the voice of the consumer in a company.
A list of questions that can be answered through market research:
What is happening in the market? What are the trends? Who are the competitors?
How do consumers talk about the products in the market?
Which needs are important? Are the needs being met by current products?
A simple example of what market research can do for a business is the following. At the company Chevrolet they brought several disciplines together in a cross-functional team to develop a concept for a completely new Corvette. This team enabled the marketers to come up with an alternative concept, one that balanced four attributes: comfort and convenience, quality, styling, and performance. This was considered radical because comfort and convenience were not traditional Corvette values. However, market research demonstrated that consumers supported the alternative concept. As a result the new Corvette was a huge success in the market. There are two types of Market research, Primary and Secondary. [Burns 2001]
With market research one can get some kind of confirmation that there is a market for one's idea, and that a successful launch and growth are possible.
Market research for business planning
Market research is discovering what people want, need, or believe. It can also involve discovering how they act. Once that research is complete it can be used to determine how to market your specific product. Whenever possible, try to reduce risks at the earliest possible stage. For example you could carry out market research early on and not wait until you are almost ready to enter the market. If early market research reveals that your business idea has real potential, you can use this information in planning the build-up of your business. [Ilar 1998]
For starting up a business there are a few things that should be found out through market research in order to know if your business is feasible. These are things like:
Market information
Market information is making known the prices of the different commodities in the market, the supply and the demand. Information about the markets can be obtained in several different varieties and formats. The most basic form of market information is the best quotation and last sale data, including the number of shares, with respect to a particular security at a given time. [Market research 2006]
Examples of market information questions are:
Who are the customers?
Where are they located and how can they be contacted?
What quantity and quality do they want?
What is the best time to sell?
What is the long-term or historical price data over a number of years?
What is the expected production in the country?
Is there more demand for one product or another? Etc.
Market segmentation
Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar motivations. Widely used bases for segmenting include geographic differences, personality differences, demographic differences, use of product differences, and psychographic differences.
Market trends
The upward or downward movements of a market, during a period of time.
The market size is more difficult to estimate if you are starting with something completely new. In this case, you will have to derive the figures from the number of potential customers or customer segments. [Ilar 1998]
But besides information about the target market you also need information about your competitor, your customers, products etc. A few techniques are:
There are many sites for freelancers. These are the most popular on the Internet:
To find it is more than sites for freelancers, you can take advantage of search. Frequently search for such phrases as, freelancer, online job, job for programmer (designer, copywriter, etc.), projects for freelancer or something similar
