Market Research 101 For Expat Entrepreneurs

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by Emmanuelle Archer in Blog, Expat Entrepreneurs
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- You’re looking for local retailers for your new product – the cutest felt hats ever – but what colours should you show them? Will their Danish customers prefer forest green, or hot pink with orange polka dots?

or…

- You need a small business loan, but you don’t have much credit history in Canada yet. How do you build a rock-solid business plan that wins over your bank manager?

or…

- You just know that your holiday resort project in Vietnam will be a success … if only you can convince that venture capitalist to lend you the funds. How do you show him that the demand is there, and that his investment will be worth his while?

The answer to these pressing questions and many, many more? Market research, my dear Watson!

Market research? Um, do you think I’m Nike or something?

I know – market research sounds like a big, expensive, complicated proposition. It doesn’t have to be. Remember when we talked about getting to know your clients? That was market research – the free, easy, low-tech kind.

Of course, informal research techniques, such as eavesdropping on message boards, have their limits. Try telling your bank manager, “But my Twitter followers said they loved my idea!” and see how far that gets you…

When you need accurate figures, and more than just anecdotal evidence, formal market research is what you need.

Where do you find market research data?

As a small business owner, you have three main sources for market research data:

-  Sources available to the general public: websites, online reports, newsletters, trade magazines, your friendly neighbourhood research librarian… the possibilities are many, and will fit even the smallest budget.

- Market research firms. You can hire them to conduct a custom survey for you – always costly, but tailored to your needs – or buy existing reports from them. A less expensive alternative is to buy into an omnibus survey.

- Your own research. Conducting your own surveys is a time investment, but it will save you a lot of money, and you will get good results provided that you follow a few guidelines (more on this in the next post).

How do you know what method is best for you?

Time, cost, and effectiveness are the three deciding factors you must take into consideration.

How detailed and statistically accurate do you need to be? How much data do you need to collect? How many people do you need to interview?

Do you need to create a fancy report and slides for a presentation? Or are the survey results solely for your own use?

Your command of the local language also comes into play. If you’re completely fluent, no problem! If not, you’ll have to rely on others to design and conduct the survey.

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Emmanuelle

Image by opacity via Flickr Creative Commons