Most people starting a new business are excited about the possibility of the amount of profit they can make. The excitement and confidence are what drives the average entrepreneur to offer their product or service in the first place.
Like any other new venture, sometimes the emotion of starting a new business makes it difficult to be realistic about such mundane things as expenses and company budgets. That is why effective market research is so important. Since statistics show that most new businesses fail in the first years of operation, effective planning before starting a new business is essential.
Marketing research can answer the following questions for a new business entrepreneur:
It doesn’t matter whether you are starting a business in your local area or online, whether you will have an actual address or a virtual one. The above questions still need to be answered. How they are answered will tell you how much money you will need to invest in your business at the outset, what you will need to budget for advertising, materials, and operating expenses, and when your company should begin to turn a profit.
The best marketing presents a fluid approach. As time goes on, your business will have to adapt to changing marketing conditions with new strategies. Old advertising methods that are no longer working will have to be replaced by new approaches, and not every strategy is guaranteed to work in a changing market.
If you want your business to succeed where others have failed, and you want to see it grow, practical marketing research must be an integral part of your ongoing business plan.