A recurring question amongst small business owners is this: Does a small business owner need to know how to do market research?
The short answer is – yes, absolutely! No business can operate successfully without knowing something about the market(s) it is working in.
However, the term “market research” is more often than not associated with terms like “statistically significant” and “sample size”, followed closely by “very expensive”! Those three by themselves, let alone any of the other technical terms usually associated with scientific research, are enough to make any small business owner throw their hands up in despair and run for cover.
So unless you have a qualification in statistics, or enough money to employ a market research company, the likelihood of a small business being able to get directly involved in a formal market research project is remote to say the least.
Yet your small business still needs information on the market it is operating in. So where to from here?
Well, its a sure bet that every small business owner, after running his or her business for a while, intuitively knows quite a lot about the market – prices, suppliers, competing companies, geographical distribution etc etc are factors that a small business owner will deal with on a daily basis.
The trick then is for the small business owner to try to put all this intuitive knowledge into a meaningful framework that will not only help them make good marketing decisions, but will also highlight areas where information is deficient.
The ideal framework for this kind of information can be found at The Small Business Marketing Toolbox. Here the small business owner will find a step by step process for developing a marketing plan unique to their business, utilising their own knowledge and filling in the gaps using methods that involve the business’s brains trust, and not the owners trust fund!
Market research is a key element in running a successful business and it doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg. On the other hand, market research is not an end in itself – it needs to be used and incorporated in a marketing plan that will give a business direction and a competitive advantage. The good news is that any small business owner, using The Small Business Marketing Toolbox can easily and quickly put together a marketing plan that they can use to achieve their goals.
