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A good location
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Sales projections
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Your product line
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Your pricing strategy
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Where you advertise
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Offering credit
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How much capital you require
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How much floor space you need
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How much inventory you order
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How much equipment and supplies you require
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How many employees you hire, etc.
Business information is required to make sound
decisions and to prepare a credible business plan
and cash flow forecast.
Where to find
informationIn most cases business
information can be gathered at no charge. The
following are sources of information on your
industry.
 Competitors
Neighboring businesses
Sales representatives
Trade suppliers
Business friends and associates
Chamber of Commerce/Board of Trade
City or Municipal Hall
Local Government Agent's office
Downtown business associations
Trade associations
Shopping center developers
Newspapers, radio and T.V.
Internet
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Various directories
Bookstores
Business Service Centers
Business Information Centers
Gov. Statistics
Trade publications
Similar businesses in another city
University or college
Advertising agencies
Post Office
Business section of library
Phone book, Yellow Pages
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Observe Your
Competition
Get out on the street and study your
competitors. Visit their stores or the locations
where their products are offered. Analyze the
location, customer volumes, traffic patterns, hours
of operation, busy periods, prices, quality of their
goods and services, product lines carried,
promotional techniques, positioning, product
catalogues and other handouts. If feasible, talk to
customers and sales staff.
Consider how well your competition satisfies the
needs of potential customers in your trading area.
Determine how you fit in to this picture and what
niche you plan to fill. Will you offer a better
location, convenience, a better price, later hours,
better quality, better service?
Talk to your
Suppliers
Conversation with your suppliers can tell
you a great deal about how your industry works and
what trends are taking place in your market. They
may be able to tell you valuable information about
pricing techniques and mark ups, about the fastest
moving lines and why they are selling, and why some
competitors are successful. (They can also provide
you with information about credit terms.)
Talk to your
Customers
Conversation with your customers or
potential customers can give you insight into what
their needs are. They can indicate what they look
for in your industry, what they think of your
competition, what price they might pay and what
level of service they like.
Surveys and Focus
Groups
Surveys and Focus Groups represent more
formal ways of getting insight from your customers.
If you have a specific information requirement and a
definable audience, it is likely that you can
undertake a useful survey. Designing a non biased
questionnaire requires attention to detail. There
are many good books available on questionnaire
design and initiating a survey. If you are depending
on the survey to assist with a costly decision, you
may want to consider hiring a professional marketing
research firm.
A focus group involves getting feedback from a
specially picked group using controlled interview
techniques. The process usually allows the
participants to provide their opinions, come up with
new ideas and brainstorm.
This is valuable for generating new concepts,
getting feedback on proposed advertising or gaining
insight into attitudes and opinions about a new
product. Focus groups require a skilled interviewer
and hand picked participants. Professional firms can
be hired to tackle the project for you.
Hire Students to do a
Survey Community colleges and
university's have marketing management programs
where students can be hired on a confidential
consulting basis as part of their curriculum. The
students do not have the experience of professional
firms, but will often do a reasonable job at little
cost.
You will probably have to cover expenses incurred by
the students and course objectives and timing may
compromise your requirements.
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