Rubik’s Cube and Market Research
A few years ago I received a Rubik’s Cube as a gift, and couldn’t put it down until I learned how to solve it. After the novelty wore off I forgot how until a cube fell into my hands last year and I relearned the solution. Although I can take a messed up cube and put all the squares back into the right places, I really didn’t’ solve it myself. I simply took the time to learn a few sequences that were developed by others. Yet, to those who don’t know how to solve the cube, it looks almost magical. Read the full article
Researching a Business Ideas in a Fast Moving Marketplace
Businesses arise when entrepreneurs identify wants or needs and create products or services to fill them. This means doing ongoing market research. Here are some of the free research tools that are easily accessible on the internet, and which are certain to make your market research easy, fast and fruitful. Read the full article.
Research a Business Idea Without Spending a Lot of Money
Businesses surface when entrepreneurs solve problems. Tiny start-up ventures are built by creative souls who tangle with a bit of chaos to devise solutions. If those solutions attract paying customers and the problem solver can profit, then a business might emerge.Owning a business is touted as one of the best ways to become financially independent and gain control over your life. Most of those who have achieved financial comfort have done so by owning a business or two. Read the full article.
Five Tricks for Finding Hot New Business Ideas Fast
New businesses don’t happen by accident. They start and grow when passionate souls burn the midnight oil to solve problems, and then find ways to sell the solution to others.
Emerging businesses, quite deservedly, occupy a special place in the mind of onlookers. Entrepreneurs somehow manage to get ahead of the curve and create profit where previously there was none. Great enterprises begin as mere ideas. Read the full article.
Market research is the process of educating yourself about your business. It includes everything you do to prove or disprove your business case.
When you set out to explore a business idea, you’ll be employing two types of research: primary and secondary. Secondary research usually gets done first, before narrowing the focus to primary.
Secondary market research is the information you’ll obtain from other sources, such as Statistics Canada or the US Bureau of Census, reports, articles in trade or consumer magazines, and the Internet. Read the full article.
Does Your Business Plan Prove Your Case?
A little diligence in planning can save time, money and energy as your business grows. Unfortunately, some people back away from business planning because it appears to be a lot of work. Although it can be a demanding task, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming, and the benefits can be remarkable. In order to be of maximum value, a business plan must prove supply, demand and the financial case. Read the full article.
Market Research Questions to Ask
As we begin thinking about starting a business, we tend to form opinions about who the customers will be, how much they’ll pay for our goods, and what they like or dislike. But opinions are not necessarily the most solid foundation on which to gamble grandma’s nest egg. At some point early in the business start-up process you’ll need to venture forth and speak to potential customers. This is the part of the journey where you learn more about who they are, what they need or want and whether or not they will buy from you, once your business is up and running. Read the full article.
9 Ways to Gather Information About Your Business Idea
It can be a lot of fun to research your own business idea, but it can also be intimidating if you don’t know where to begin. If you’re thinking about starting or growing a business, here are nine ways to research your market. Read the full article.
Competitive Intelligence Not Espionage
Business start-ups tend to stumble when it comes to gathering information on their competitors. And yet, going into business without having a thumb on the pulse of your industry is a sure way to go broke. When planning a business, and particularly when it comes to researching competitors, people stress about what’s right or wrong, and often feel they are spying. In business planning workshops, learners ask about the ethics of snooping and whether it’s right to sneak into a competitor’s shop posing as a customer. Read the full article.
Assessing Small Business Feasibility
Although it’s difficult to know in advance, it’s essential to gather enough information to predict your business’ chances of survival; this is the black art of feasibility. You can compare to other businesses, you can devise your action plans, and you can crunch the numbers to create multiple future scenarios. You can sleuth and slash through the marketplace maze, start your business, then discover afterward that the business simply isn’t feasible. A business’s appearance of feasibility is no guarantee that it will succeed. This is not reassuring to those faced with feasibility analysis, but start-ups are still far better off assessing feasibility than not. Read the full article.