Investigate with foundation
If we talk about market research, it means that we mean to follow a methodology that allows obtaining valid results to make decisions. It is not useful to ask a group of friends and acquaintances for an opinion. Nor is it enough to look in Google to make a small approximation to what the competition does. We are talking about conducting your own research following a methodology as close as possible to that used by professionals. “It's about making decisions while minimizing risk a bit. And in this sense, design and field work are key for quality results ”, says María Ángeles Zabaleta, consumer research senior manager at Nielsen. Where to start?
Define a goal. “The first thing is to define the objective of the investigation. What am I going to do it for, what do I want to know with it or what use is it going to do for me. Depending on the objective, I will look for one methodology or another ”, explains Ricardo Pérez, new business consultant at Kantar Worldpanel.
“As an entrepreneur, the first thing is to know if your product or service is good or not. Set yourself that first goal. You would also like to know what the people who would buy it would be like, if you need it to be green or not ... But first you have to know if the idea of your product is going to work or not, what are the good things and what are the bad things " , explains Javier Maldonado.
What kind of research? Depending on your objective, you will have to choose between the possible investigation tools. Some only provide raw, hard data (quantitative studies). Others, quality values or purchase intention, opportunities and threats (qualitative).
You may need a combination of the two to get started. For example, to start the same, the first thing that interests you is to know the size of the market you want to enter. Its value in price or by potential customers. For that, the consumption or purchase panels are used, in which people are asked what they have consumed or bought (they are not asked about purchase intention, which is what it tells you if you have a chance).
The panel will help you determine the size of your potential market, but you will have to complement it later with a satisfaction survey that will provide you with clues about the opportunities and threats that really exist in that specific segment.
Each tool serves a purpose. “To test a new product, we will always do a product test. To know the motivations of purchase, the best is a survey. But if I am already in the market and I want to detect why there has been a drop in sales, I do a purchase panel and see what barriers there have been. What has caused the non-growth, I analyze which of my competitors do grow, what factors have taken advantage of ... Just as my competition has entered Carrefour and since I have not done so and I am in fewer points of sale, I have not been able to grow " says Ricardo Pérez.
Who is my audience? The third key decision is to choose the universe of people who will participate in the research. The minimum possible to obtain reliable results. And it will depend on the type of business you are going to set up. A business that is aimed at a general public and a national market is not the same as a local business for a highly segmented public.
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