Market Research: Does it add value to your business?
Market research is an important part of any innovative business and something that is an on-going need as markets are always changing and adapting.
Market research is an important part of any innovative business and something that is an on-going need as markets are always changing and adapting. Having a better understanding of your market can help prepare your business and boost your growth.
Market research is a tool which can help to expand your knowledge in the area in which you are trading. There are lots of different aspects which can help you understand your business in more detail and help give direction to future growth plans.
Market research can look like many different things. It can be: a collection of opinions on a type of product, information on how many competitors there are, data on what the need for a product or service is in a particular location and so much more. Let’s look in a bit more detail at how market research can benefit your business.
Firstly, buyers’ opinions on a product or service: well, how can this not be important? If the buyer doesn’t like a product or a service, quite simply they are not going to buy it. It is vital for a company to understand its customer, whether they are other businesses or consumers. With market research, you can understand how a customer feels, what they respond to and how they use your goods or services.
This information is often collated through surveys by market research organisations and is a useful tool to understand how you can market your offering. If you don’t have the resources to hire a third party to undertake a wider audience survey of potential consumers to get their views, then the first step is to ask your current clients what their opinion is and get feedback. The more information you can get, the more you can understand your client base and increase your sales! The second step is to look to see if there is already some market research available for your type of products, for example any reports or statistics. The team at the National Enquiry Gateway (NEG) at Innovate UK EDGE can help undertake these searches for you, using their access to research databases and importantly help to save you valuable time!
Competitors: who are they? How do people perceive them? What makes people buy from them? Understanding your competition is just another step in understanding your market and a vital one for innovative businesses. If you can understand what your competitors do well and not so well, then you can look to see how you can implement things into your business to make you the market leader!
Finally, geography: where is your market? For example, would you sell an igloo to people in the Sahara Desert? No, it is pointless, it will melt. The Sahara Desert just isn’t the place for you to sell, but Greenland, Norway, Iceland etc just might be! Understanding where your market is located is so important: you could have the best offering around but if you’re trying to sell it in the wrong place, you are not going to get very far.
By researching different geographical markets before you try to enter them, you will save money and time by avoiding ones that aren’t going to be successful. Once you have found the place where you want to sell your product and you pin point a need for your offering in that area, you must understand if there are any restrictions or requirements to sell in that area. For example, if you are selling food goods into the EU, there are certain directives that need to be adhered to. The National Enquiry Gateway team can help with this, as well as doing the initial research for you. They can look to see what is in place and help create a clearer picture of the market as a whole.
Once you understand who your market is, where your market is and who your competitors are, then you are one step closer to success. If you want to grow your business, develop ideas, emerge into new markets and increase sales then market research is so important and can have such a positive impact on your business. The advisors at the National Enquiry Gateway (NEG) at Innovate UK EDGE can help you with your market research, saving you precious time to run your business and once you have identified your market, UK or abroad, our Innovation and Growth Specialists can help identify potential opportunities or collaborations to help progress your business even further.
The NEG team did some research of their own and got the following feedback:
Dan Daly from Occuity said “James (IUKE Innovation and Growth Specialist) also brokered an arrangement with the NEG who undertook a market research exercise for us that encouraged us to move into a new market area. This opportunity – myopia screening and management – appears to be a very substantial opportunity.”
Jeff Mallows an Innovation and Growth Specialist said, “the research carried out by the NEG team has been extremely valuable to my clients in helping them understand the key market metrics, important players and future opportunities for their business”
Contact the team with your enquiry and they will do their best to help you with what you need, along with pinpointing any continuing innovation support that may be required.
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