Research for all
Small businesses can get as good insights as big businesses
Market research
Small businesses can get as good insights as big businesses
I finished the 2nd module of the course. It was Market Research. As a small business owner, I had two questions.
One, small businesses are too small to carry our market research.
Two, customers are too less, to get the consumer insights.
Professor Mark Ritson said that small businesses can benefit as much from the market research.
Few actionable takeaways for small businesses:
Always start with the secondary research and qualitative research.
Collect the information about the competitors from the secondary data and proxies. Get the big picture about the market.
Go to the customers and interview them to understand the specific questions about their interests, attitudes, and lifestyle.
Ask questions to know their preferences in regard to your product or service.
If possible, spend a time with the customers. Trail them. Record how they behave at the point of purchase, consumption, and disposal (if any).
The above exercise will give you insights to ask more specific questions:
What is the right price for my product for the market?
How big is the market for my product or service?
Which group of people should we focus on? What are their key interests and behaviour?
How do they buy a specific product from the category?
I also learnt backward market research:
It means instead of researching ambiguous categories about the customers and the market, the right way is to think of a presentation you would like to see, with the answers. The focus is to diagnose the problem, and act on the insights.
Worth your time: Marketing hacks for small businesses Link