The document outlines the importance of market analysis for businesses, detailing the steps needed to identify opportunities, target markets, and research customer needs. It emphasizes the process of creating customer profiles, analyzing competition, and understanding market trends, while also offering tips for low-budget analysis methods. The key takeaway is that market analysis serves as a vital tool for informed decision-making in entrepreneurship.

1. E.M. Erasmus, MA
January 28, 2014
Market Analysis and Surveying

2. Roadmap
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Why do Market Analysis?
Market Analysis Grid
Research Process
Low-Budget/DIY Market Analysis
Some Helpful Tips and Resources
Final Thoughts

3. Why do Market Analysis?
• A key part of developing your business
strategy
• Both first-time entrepreneurs and existing
companies need market information for
new products and services.

4. Why do Market Analysis?
Marketing Analysis can be used to:
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Identify & Assess Opportunities
Examine Market Segments
Select Target Markets
Plan & Implement Marketing Mixes
Evaluate Marketing Performance

5. Market Analysis Grid
Customer
Secondary
Primary
Competition
Context

6. CUSTOMER ANALYSIS

7. Target Market and Customer
After first identifying your market, you will
then need to select a target market to be
the focus of your company’s efforts.

8. Target Market and Customer
• Consumer market segmentation is
based on geographics, demographics,
psychographics, and buying
characteristics.
• A business can select and serve multiple
market segments.

9. Target Market and Customer
Market Segmentation
geographics
buying
characteristics
demographics
psychographics

10. Target Market and Customer
The target market for your product or
service should be:
1 Measurable
2 Large enough to be profitable
3 Reachable
4 Responsive

11. Researching the Target
Customer
Create a customer profile.
Evaluate customers’ needs.
Conduct
Forecast research to forecast demand.

12. Creating a Customer
Profile
Creating a customer profile (personas) is the
first step in targeting your marketing efforts.
• Age, gender, lifestyle
• Purchasing power
• Purchasing process
• Frequency of purchase, etc.

13. Evaluating Customers’
Needs
In order to provide what the customer wants,
you should prepare a customer needs analysis:
that is a list of features and benefits of your
good or service that the customers value

14. Forecasting Demand
Several methods can be used to forecast
demand:
Use historical analogy.
Interview prospective customers and
intermediaries.
Go into limited supply.

16. The Competition
• Usually, competing products and
services are already established in the
market.
• To succeed, you must be able to capture
market share by differentiating your
business.

17. The Competition
Many entrepreneurial companies succeed
by studying the competition to define a
niche in the market.

18. The Competition
Create a profile of direct and indirect
competitors in the market:
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Who are they?
What makes them successful?
What are their weaknesses?
How will they react to new market entrants?

19. BUSINESS CONTEXT (ENVIRONMENT)

20. Analyzing the business
environment
Look at trends and patterns of change.
Understand industry forces that affect your business.
Study industry demographics.

21. Local Trends
Ageing
Population
Renewable
Energy
Social Media
Generation Y
Tourism
Demographics
Health Consciousness
Gateway/Export
Creative Industries
Consumer
Awareness
Mobile
Sustainable Food
Recycling/Upcycling

22. Global Trends

23. Global Trends

24. Industry Forces
barriers to entry
threats from substitute products
sources of supply
buyers’ ability to bargain
technology

25. Industry Demographics
carrying capacity
the ability of industry to support
new growth
industry life cycle
the current stage of an industry
1
Birth
2
Growth
3
Maturity
4
Decline
uncertainty
the degree of stability or instability
in a given industry
complexity
the number and diversity of
contacts with which a business
must deal

27. Start the Research Process
The Five Steps of an Effective Research Plan
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Analyze the data.
Organize the data.
Collect primary data.
Obtain secondary resources.
Identify your information needs.

28. Start the Research Process
Research secondary data before
researching primary sources because it is
easily obtained and inexpensive.

29. Start the Research Process
The most common methods of gathering
primary data are:
• observation
• interviews
• surveys

30. LOW-BUDGET/DIY MARKET ANALYSIS

31. Low-Budget Market Analysis
& Surveying
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Use social media
Talk to potential customers
Visit your (potential) competitor
Attend lectures and workshops (UA, KvK, etc.)
Make use of UA students to conduct research
Research and project reports database UA

32. Rule of Thumb
• The larger your investment,
the more extensive your
market analysis should be.

33. RESOURCES AND TIPS

34. Online Resources

35. Online Resources

36. Online Resources

37. Online resources
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http://www.marketresearchworld.net/
http://www.bizstats.com/
http://www.markettools.com/KnowledgeCenter
http://www.sba.gov
http://freeonlinesurveys.com/
http://www.surveymonkey.com/

38. Online resources

39. Books on marketing research

40. Books on marketing research

41. Sharing some wisdom
• Methodology: should be good enough,
not (scientifically) perfect;
• Make marketing research a habit;
• Don’t just rely on family and friends;
• Don’t just collect data…do something
with it!;
• Know your industry…inside and out…;

42. Always Remember
• Market Analysis & Surveying is a tool.
• It assists entrepreneurs in their
decision making.
• IT IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR
ENTREPRENEURIAL JUDGEMENT!!

43. Final thoughts…
“He who asks is a fool for five minutes.
He who does not ask is a fool forever.”
~ Chinese proverb