Market research – a key factor in driving business success
Understanding the market place is absolutely essential to driving business success, as aspects such as product placement and idea generation can make or break a business.
Understanding the cultural, social and economic impacts of products and business plans is essential to working out who will pay for a product and why.
Fundamentally, these aspects will be what drives sales and without a clear understanding it is incredibly difficult to achieve success.
That is where market research comes in – customer feedback is often under-utilised by businesses that are prepared to take risks and deal with any consequences at a later stage.
However, at a time when finances are not necessarily in the best shape, taking extra precautions is necessary to attain business success.
A failure to do so could see a product enter development that will see little market demand and that could end up costing the company more than it generates.
Providing important information
Such moves can prove to be the downfall of a company, but acting quickly and implementing business turnaround plans can help to limit the potential impact of a possible company administration or insolvency.
The key with products is to act swiftly – if an idea is not well received through various market research channels then it is better to scrap it and move on, rather than persisting with a losing formula.
Understanding what a customer may be willing to pay is also essential, as all costs should be considered accordingly, from the costs of acquiring materials to those associated with development and manufacturing.
While market research might cost money in the first instance, it will inevitably save in the long-run should a product fail to make the grade.
This is even more important at a time when competition among businesses is incredibly high, and with niche markets considerably more difficult than a decade ago to tap into.
Market research provides the possibility of answering the specific questions that a company needs to see answered – the right responses might just reveal the product of tomorrow.
By Phil Smith