The truth is that you can do as much market research as you want – it still won’t guarantee success.

It is however better to do some research and the more complex your business is, the more market research should be done.

A business that provides financial services, for example, requires much more research with regards to laws and regulations than a plumbing business.

Although your ability to understand these requirements is vital for the success of the business, you should know that your ability to make it up as you go along will be the single largest contributing factor to your success.

Questions to ask when conducting research :

• Who will use my product or service?
• How many similar businesses are there in the area?
• Can I improve a product or service that other businesses are offering?
• Why would customers come to me – is it because of better quality, cheaper prices or better service?
• Can customers obtain my product or service from local competitors?
• Will large companies use my product or service?

You can get answers to some of these questions by finding out how established businesses are doing.

A quick way to find out how many similar businesses there are in your area is to Google them.

SOURCES :
Cronje & Cronje
Business Partners