Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Find Competitive Market Analysis

Every entrepreneur thinks that having technical expertise in a particular field is enough to create a prosperous business. It’s not. No amount of expertise can replace the need to have in-depth market knowledge. That’s where a competitive market analysis comes in. While some corporations spend huge sums for a competitive market analysis, there are also simple ways to do it.

Define your problem and determine the exact information that you are looking for. A well-designed questionnaire could be ideal to help you get started.

Get online. The Internet is a virtual treasure trove of information. Log on to your competitor’s websites and get information. Access online articles and research reports.

Read existing information in the print media. Get your hands on trade journals, magazines, newspapers and advertisements.

Meet existing players in your industry. Employees of your competitor’s organizations are a good source of information. Also, try and get in touch with your competitor’s vendors and suppliers. Find out about their range of products, innovation and marketing tactics.

Talk to the customers. Ask them about their level of satisfaction with the current range of products in the same category. What would they like to see improved in such products?

Get as much information as possible from government sources. Time and again, the government comes up with volumes on every industry. Absorb as much as you can.

Attend trade shows. It is your one-stop solution to get a lot of information from many of your competitors.

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