Market research

Business Start UpOld Broadcasting House

24 February 2010

Rob Greenland, The Social Businesswww.thesocialbusiness.co.uk

What we’ll do today

• Look at how to do DIY market research

• Talk about why market research matters

• Look at what you can do - step by step

• Come up with practical things we can all do

I work with social entrepreneurs

• Training - market research, marketing, social business planning

• Consultancy - social enterprise

• Lots of work with start-ups

• WritingPhoto from Ant Smallwood via flickr.com

www.thesocialbusiness.co.uk

Named UK’s top social enterprise blog

DIY market research

• You’ll never feel like you’ve done enough

• But don’t make the perfect the enemy of the possible

• Someone else might do it better - but at a price

• There’s every chance you’ll do nothing

• So, do what you can, and do it well

Why bother?

• It can help you to decide whether setting up this business is a

good idea

• It can help you to understand your market better - find your

niche, identify opportunities

• It can help you to understand your customers - and serve them

better

Step 1 - Decide what market you are in

• Ask what your customer

needs.

• In small groups, discuss

what customer needs

you meet/aim to meet.

Picture from flydime via flickr.com

Why this is helpful• Focusing on needs helps you to think more broadly about who

your competitors are.

• You might also identify people you could collaborate with

• It immediately focuses your research on your customers - if

you understand them, you have a greater chance of success.

Step 2: Agree aim• Don’t do research for the sake of doing research.

• Ask yourself: What do I want to find out? What question(s) do I

want to answer?

• eg: My aim is to find out as much as I can about how businesses

in Yorkshire are helped to reduce their CO2 emissions.

• Estimate size of market, understand opportunities, find my niche,

identify unmet needs……

Step 3: Agree how to keep track of what you find out

• Although our approach is

logical, the way you will find

things out won’t be so logical

• A book?

• A research blog (password

protected)?

Photo from koalazymonkey via flickr.com

Step 4: Decide how you will analyse your research

• Is there anyone else you can discuss things

with?

• Research on its own has limited value - it’s

discussing it - and then taking decisions based

on it - that matter most.

Step 5 - Start your research

• Market as a whole

• Customers

• Competitors

• Collaborators

Your market

1. What would it be useful to know?

2. How will I find things out?

3. Secondary research

4. Primary research

Your market - ideas

• Mintel, Keynote,….

• Journals, Magazines, Newspapers…

• How-to books, biographies…

• Springwise

• Other ideas….?

Your customers

1. What would it be useful to know?

2. How will I find things out?

3. Secondary research

4. Primary research

Customers - ideas

• Mintel, Keynote - customer segmentation

• Journals, Magazines, Newspapers…

• Talk to people! Ask them questions, look at

their current behaviour, eg what they buy.

• Questionnaires, online surveys….other ideas?

Surveymonkey.com

Your competitors

1. What would it be useful to know?

2. How will I find things out about them?

3. Secondary research

4. Primary research - eg mystery shop etc

Competitors - think about…

• Try to think about who may enter the market - as well

as current competitors

• Assess your competitors - what do they seem good at

- not so good at?

• Where might there be opportunities? Can you identify

a niche for your business?

Collaborators

• Who could we work with to serve our

customers better? How could we benefit?

What could we offer?

• Who could help us to establish ourselves in

this market?

Step 6: Research Intelligence

• Review what you’ve found out

• You might find it helpful to do this with other

people - can you work with eachother - set

up a research circle?

• Try mind mapping it.

Research Mind Map

Step 7: Make judgments, take decisions

• What are your conclusions, based on what

you have discovered?

• What are you going to do as a result of what

you have found out?

• Can you answer your original question?

To recap

1. Decide what market your are in

2. Agree the aim of your research

3. Decide how to keep track of your research

4. Decide how you will analyse your research

5. Start your research - MCCC

6. Turn your research into intelligence

7. Make judgments - take decisions

Don’t stop now

• Research is an ongoing

process.

• Keep listening - stay

curious

• Your market, your

customers, competitors,

collaborators, will all keep

evolving. From quinn.anya via flickr

Questions and Comments

From db*photography via flickr

What will you do next?

www.thesocialbusiness.co.uk@TheSocBiz