How do you do market research?

[QuestionMan]

If I am preparing a business plan, I know that one of the key peices of information investors will want to know is the size of the market we are looking at. How does one go about getting answers to these questions? To take my specific example, how would I find out data about the size of the holiday villa rental market in a particular country?

Obviously i am not looking for answers, but rather an insight into how firms and entrepreneurs gather their data - are there established sources for this type of thing? Do most people have work specifically commissioned? etc

[Palastenian]

for full illustration,
go back for a book "Marketing Principles" - Katzung

[catzpaw]

Doing your own market research isn't difficult, although it does tend to be time consuming. If you own a small business, you're probably researching your markets continually informally. Every time you talk to a customer about what he or she wants, or chat with a supplier or sales rep, you're conducting market research.

But more formal market research is also necessary to keep your business vital and growing. I think of market research as a grid (see the bottom of this page).

The Market Research Grid shows the two types of data sources and the three areas of research that are important to any business. You need to gather information from and about your customers to focus your marketing efforts, maintain and improve your customer service, and to guide your efforts in developing new products and/or services.

Looking at the Market Research Grid, information gathered about the competition can help you determine what works and what hasn't worked, give you ideas for improving your products and/or services, and provide insight into how to increase or shift your share of the market.

The environment section of the Market Research Grid refers to those economic, social, and political forces that shape business.

Gathering information about the environment allows you to stay abreast of and respond to particular trends or events that impact your small business. Whether it's a predicted drop in interest rates, or the closure of a local mill, you need to be aware of it and judge the ripple effect on your business, for good or ill.

Think of secondary data sources as market research data that's already been collected by someone else. Telephone books, government publications, and sources such as Statistics Canada, trade journals, and surveys conducted by other companies are all examples of information that's already been gathered that you can use to get a fix on what your customers want, what the competition has done, and what the environment is like. You can find links to many valuable secondary data sources, including Canadian statistics, in my Business Reference Information library.

Primary sources provide firsthand information. When you survey your customers or question the competition, you're gathering information directly from the source. While this kind of market research data can be the most costly and time-consuming to gather, it can also be the most valuable, because it's the most current and the most specific.

You could continue to read how to do your own market research on the next pageon the link below.

[11mz]

by asking around,and have a quota to meet with it too

[Amod M]

Initially u have to work hard to create a chain of professionals who will share their expertise with u of course on mutual benefit . later on it becomes smooth and can be shared details online.

[Ray]

What is your ideal target market... poor people, rich people, average income people??? That is where you want to target your sampling of potential customers. Remember people lie and quite often tell you what you want to hear more than what they feel they want to reveal to you. It won't do you alot of good to interview $8.00 an hour employees if you are looking at a $200 a night hotel/spa. It won't do you alot of good to charge $20 a night for a bordello style motel to the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. Interview those who fit the typical demographics of your proposal. You may want to offer some kind of special item to those who participate in your survey. It doesn't have to be an expensive gift so long as its a practical gift. You can use the surveys to gather names for a mailing list down the road or you can make it annonymous. That's up to you. You can hire a marketing research firm that specializes in that kind of industry and they'll know the right approaches. Your business plan is nothing to play with. Once you get your 1000 random sampling scale it to a small percentage of those who will actually use your service. You won't get 100% participation even if all 1,000 people say "Yes, where do I sign." Use the data for informational data of what the potential group wants or needs... price, special services, jacuzzi, choice of meals, image, etc. That data will help you create your mission statement which clearly outlines what geographical areas to consider property in, who your target market is and what they want, and ways to go about providing the right service at the right price at the right time.

[Pullay]

it's very time consuming, best hire market research company.