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Blog posts tagged market research
Dear aspiring mumpreneur
March 09, 2010
Dear aspiring mumpreneur,
I'm writing this open letter to you to outline some crucial points that I wish someone had laid out for me. I'll keep it as short as possible because I know your time is precious but I'm sure that if you read this through, you'll save a ton of time in the long run.
If you are truly serious about becoming a part of the wonderful world of mumpreneurialism, read carefully what I have written below, you'll gain the information you need to act now and get in the right mindset.
Here are, not necessarily in the best order, my top tips to set you on your way:
- You don't need a university education to start a business... but you do need passion. If you have enough passion for what you are about to embark on then your chances of success are already sky high.
- Market research ― please do your market research before you steam ahead with any product or idea. Just because you think it's good - doesn't mean it is and on the flip side, if someone tells you it sucks ― it doesn't mean that it does. You need to get out there and research your target market, then and only then can you move forward.
- Do your best to start your business on a shoe string, and then start to invest the revenue you make back in. You won't turn a 'profit' for some time but your business asset will be growing substantially.
- You have an array of skills at your disposal because you are a resourceful woman but it never hurts to brush up or learn new skills as you go. Unless you are hiring professionals you will need to know about marketing, social media, basic technical skills (if you don't have a web designer), search engines, advertising, networking, blogging... but before you panic, there are resources out there to make this process painless and you don't need to be an expert, you just need to know the basics and get a little bit of experience and training.
- Find a mentor or a few people that you admire and have a good connection with. If they are knowledgeable and willing to help you, then grab it with both hands and learn from them. It's far better to connect, follow and utilise a small number of people rather than hopping from site to site trying to find answers.
- Be strict with your time - time management is an art and one that you would do well to master. Some of the key areas to running a successful business are self-discipline, focus and managing your time effectively. Procrastination is an entrepreneur's worst enemy and very common downfall. My best piece of advice here is to get yourself a simple kitchen timer and work in solid chunks of thirty minutes at a time. Within that period you focus on the task at hand - no email, no calls no Twitter (gasp!) or Facebook ― unless of course networking is your thirty minute task.
- Fail fast - I suggested you do your research and work on some skills but ultimately put something out there, get going, don't drag your heels waiting for perfection. If your project isn't going to work then fail fast and move on to the next venture.
- Set yourself up with a blog - preferably a self-hosted WordPress blog. Start talking about your business with the passion that you have for it. Draw your niche market in to your blog with insightful posts about you, your business, your plans and anything else that will interest THEM.
- Network and revel in the strong support of the Mumpreneur community that is already out there. You'll never be judged, you'll always receive encouragement, opinions, advice and you will have the opportunity to create partnerships and life-long friends. Remember that these Mumpreneurs know exactly the struggles, hopes, fears and aspirations you have, because they have them too. Whilst it's really important to get your family and friends behind you, the Mumpreneurs you meet online will understand your business goals and any problems you face far better than any of your offline friends. So don't be afraid to reach out to them.
- Learn the way of the Web 2.0 world of marketing and build relationships with your customers. Be completely transparent and react quickly to any queries, complaints or mentions of your business. Times have changed and the playing field has been leveled - you have the same social tools to market your business as the big guns, so utilise them well.
- Suppress your whiny inner voice - the one that tells you you're useless and makes you doubt every move that you make. Have faith in yourself and believe that you will succeed. If you can get yourself into the right mindset then half your battle is won. Never lose sight of your goals, always tackle everything with a passion and drive that feels like fuel running through you ― if it doesn't feel like that ― something isn't right!
- Finally - be happy! Make time for yourself and your family because without them it will all be for nothing. You will need to work hard, you'll likely be up to the early hours of the morning day in, day out to make this really work, but the passion you have for it will see you through, the love for your family will keep you going and the time and patience you allow yourself on this journey of discovery will make you feel proud, enlightened and like you've scaled the highest mountain.
So there you have it, the open advice that I wish I could have received when I first started out. I hope that it serves you well and that you go on to be truly successful and accomplish all that you set out to achieve. Maybe you could look me up in the Mumpreneur community and let me know how you're getting on sometime ― I'd love to hear all about it.
So, from one Mumpreneur to another - good luck, stay focused and live each day to the max!
Nikki Backshall, WebMums.com
10 top tips for budding ‘mumpreneurs’
March 08, 2010
Research suggests that as many as one in ten mums would like to run their own business. It can be the best way to get control over your working hours and spend more time with children, while still being able to contribute to household income. If you are a mum and want to run your own business, here are my tips.
1 List your priorities. What is important to you and what do you expect in return for running a business? Do you seek to make loads of money or are you simply trying to find a way to spend more time at home with your children?
2 Think about time. How many hours you can devote to a business. Be realistic if you plan to work around your kids. Remember – young children are especially unlikely to understand “mummy’s working”. Write down your which hours are possible, whether that’s 12-2 each day during nap time; 9.30-11.30 to fit in with nursery; 7-9 in the evenings or a combination of these on different days.
3 Research your market. All new business owners must do this by finding the answers to key questions. Will enough people buy your product or service at the price you plan to charge? Is your product or service unique enough to appeal? What competition will you face and how can you be different or better?
4 Write a business plan. Set out your aims and objectives – and the steps you need to take to achieve them. Pop into a local Enterprise Agency or Business Link for advice. See if they offer a free start-up course, which could be a great source of information and advice.
5 Decide your marketing and promotional tactics. Have a promotion planning session, during which you seriously consider advertising, marketing, PR and events. What method(s) are likely to be most effective for your business? Note on a wall calendar promotional activities you will do each month, but spend enough time each day marketing your business – it’s critical to success.
6 Promote your business online. Get a good website designed. Start a Twitter account in your business name. Create your own blog and blog on other sites. Start a Facebook fan page for your business. To make things easier, use Twitterfeed or Friendfeed to link your different networking sites.
7 Get registered. You have three months to let HMRC know you have set up as a sole trader (ie become self-employed), otherwise you could be fined £100. Alternatively, you might decide to form a company by filing the necessary forms with Companies House.
8 Keep good financial records. It’s easier to note down every item of expenditure from the start than to have to deal with an unruly pile of receipts when you have to complete you tax return. Many expenses are tax deductible, while you can also benefit from a series of allowances, too. Visit the HMRC website for more information – or seek advice from a good accountant.
9 Make the most of every customer. It is much easier and as much as eight times cheaper to sell to existing customers rather than having to attract and convince new ones to buy from you, so you must aim to delight your customers if you want them to keep coming back for more. As well as products, this must apply to your services, too. Whichever means is most effective, always maintain good communication with your customers. Keep them well informed and updated. Sort out any customer complaints quickly and satisfactorily.
10 Get help. Before starting up, assess your skills list and identify any that are lacking. You might need to find someone to help with your bookkeeping, PR, online marketing, sales, deliveries – whatever. You might not have the knowledge, time or will to do everything yourself. Providing your business can afford it, buying in help can free you up so your time can be better spent on something else. Explore all free sources of information and advice – including the Start Up Donut, of course.
After you start your business, you need to remain focused on your ideal work-life. If you’re not careful, running a business can easily and quickly take over everything, which means your home life suffers and this can affect how you feel. Have a finish time each day; put your work away when it comes; spend quality time with your family and make sure you set aside time to relax by and do things you enjoy.
- If you’re serious about starting a business, check out my book at www.themumpreneurguide.co.uk, it is written specially for mums who want to start a business. It covers issues ranging from business planning and start-up finance to arranging childcare and setting aside time for yourself.
Antonia Chitty, Family Friendly Working
Primary market research vs. Secondary market research: a comparative analysis
December 03, 2009
Market research is an essential part of any business plan, whether a fledgling business or a multinational organisation. Knowing that there is a sustainable market for your product and understanding what your audience expects from you is vital to a successful business launch. Market research can generally be split into two categories; primary and secondary, and during this article I will explain both and discuss their respective merits and appropriate uses.
Secondary Research
Secondary research makes use of existing data from whatever sources are available. There are government censuses, Mintel surveys, and many private market research agencies that allow access to their data; some of it for free. It can be hugely advantageous, especially as a place to begin. Secondary research more often than not, proves to be a solid base on which to develop your own primary research. It plays the same role as research in general does to your product launch, and should be seen as just as vital. Also, this is of course far cheaper and generally quicker than creating your own research from scratch.
The negatives
The other side of that coin is that you have neither picked the panel to suit your exact needs, nor the questions. It is feasible that you can find some research somewhere that corresponds to what you are trying to achieve but it will almost certainly require some tweaking, and will not necessarily be the people you wish to interrogate; the use of qualitative research designed by someone else will almost certainly make the target specialised away from your goals. Another main issue with secondary research is that by the time it reaches you it’s often outdated; markets change so quickly in business that the only way to be truly current is through new research. This is not to rubbish the quality of secondary research.
Primary Research
Primary research is, essentially, the creation of your own research, whether a question that you ask to your friends and family or a survey put together alongside an agency and administered to a wide panel. Primary research will instantly let you feel more in control of your project; and that is the exact position you will find yourself in. You choose the questions and select your panel through qualitative research, allowing you detailed responses from individuals. You decide how, when and where your research is administered. You can ensure that your research is focussed: the number of participants and their backgrounds, the number and nature of the questions, the amount of time that your survey is available. This is the most accurate way to research a market sector that is specific to you and your product.
The down side
It is of course, more expensive, whether financially or on your time. If performing primary research alone it will take a lot of time, refining and will need some experience in producing quality questionnaires. It will also take time for your questionnaire to be completed if you don’t have direct access to a ready panel. Most of this can be avoided by using an agency, but at a cost higher than performing your research alone.
So what’s the best option?
Neither type of research will take you to your goal alone; however, a combination of the two will give you all the information you need. Using primary research alone, without first seeing what has or has not worked for other companies and possibly missing out on important data from research that you couldn’t afford to perform yourself, is likely to lead to irrelevant questions or missed opportunities. At the same time, relying solely on secondary research is likely to leave you with answers that are vague or inappropriate to your specific audience. The two compliment each other well, and when used in conjunction will give you a well rounded and accurate portrayal of the needs and opinions of your market sector.
Your business idea is fundamentally flawed (you'll be pleased to know)
August 24, 2009
You're probably reading this blog because you are in the process of starting up a new business or you've got a great business idea that you want to develop and launch.
First of all, congratulations! It's a great feeling when you make that decision to start a new business. And if you’ve never done this before, you're at the beginning of a very exciting journey.
Now for the bad news. If you've just come up with a great idea and are now rushing to get it to market, you've probably got a really serious problem. And that problem is that your idea is quite likely to be fundamentally flawed. Or to put it another way, it's likely to go really badly wrong and it's probably not going to work.
I know that doesn't sound very encouraging, but before you rush off into the distance and start investing a lot of time and money into implementing your idea, you need to do something very important indeed...
You need to challenge it.
You need to look at your idea from different perspectives. You need to put yourself in the shoes of potential customers. You need to put on Edward DeBono’s black hat and challenge your idea seriously. While all of this may sound terribly negative and destructive, it's really important that you take this advice on board. So many businesses are launched with insufficient planning, insufficient testing, not enough feedback from people and poor advice.
If you actively approach your idea from a balanced and objective point of view, where you've considered the huge upsides as well as any potential downside which exists, then you'll be in a much better position to get it right.
Like with anything, starting up a business takes patience and a whole lot of learning. Market conditions change so quickly that you need to always approach you business holistically, and be willing to take advice on board. With those things in mind, it seems like you’re half way there having found this Donut!
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