| As an entrepreneur starting a new business or | | | | 2. Set a budget for your research and develop a |
| venturing into a new market, any person you | | | | timeline for research completion. |
| approach for advice will likely tell you that it is | | | | 3. Think about the type of data you will need - |
| important that you do some research before you | | | | There are two sources of data - primary and |
| take the plunge. There is just one problem with this | | | | secondary. Primary data is data that you collect in |
| advice - often, nobody seems to tell you how | | | | relation to your product and is created from your |
| exactly you are to conduct your research. What | | | | own observation, understanding and analysis. Primary |
| type of information you need, where to find the | | | | data can be collected by interviewing the general |
| information, what factors to consider or the scope | | | | public through calling a set of randomly selected |
| of research needed is just some of the factors that | | | | numbers or observing market reaction to a similar |
| you need to look into to effectively carry out | | | | product. Secondary data is information that is |
| marketing research. | | | | obtained from books, journals, industry reports and |
| In order for your research to be valuable to your | | | | any other information gathered by a third party. For |
| marketing process, you must first have a clear | | | | secondary data, you can use the internet which has |
| picture of what it is you are doing. Many first time | | | | a large collection of e-books and company research |
| business owners and novice marketers usually | | | | reports, product information and market statistics. |
| confuse 'market research' with 'marketing research'. | | | | You can also check the library for product research |
| The main difference between the two is that the | | | | conducted by various companies. Local chamber of |
| latter is on a larger scale as compared to the former. | | | | commerce and trade and industry offices are another |
| Market research entails analyzing a specific market | | | | place you should stop by as these not only have |
| for your product whereas marketing research not | | | | research documents you can go through but can also |
| only includes conventional market research, but also | | | | provide vital advice on your intended line of business. |
| new products and services, distribution channels and | | | | 4. Analyze the data collected - This is where a lot of |
| the consumer's wants and needs. In a nutshell, it is an | | | | the work lies. You have to determine how to |
| all encompassing research on the market that includes | | | | represent the data, what software to use and the |
| product, processes, people, places and competitors. | | | | acceptable margin of error based on the sample you |
| Even though you may have clear understanding of | | | | collected and the methodology used to collect the |
| the type of product you want to sell and how it fits | | | | data. |
| into your company's overall mission and goals, this is | | | | 5. The final report - The information gathered should |
| not necessarily sufficient to make sure that your | | | | help you come up with a report that will help you |
| product sells. Marketing research can eventually help | | | | decide what marketing strategy to employ. This |
| increase your sales revenues. To perform the | | | | report should ideally include charts, flow diagrams and |
| research, you can follow the below steps: | | | | statistics that back up your research and your |
| 1. The first step is to define your business goals as | | | | intended strategy. |
| far as the product is concerned. Try to be as specific | | | | Conducting research requires patience and practice - |
| as possible as this will eventually help you obtain an | | | | the more you dig in, the more effective you will |
| accurate report. | | | | become. |