Market research is of two types: ### **1. Primary Research** In this research, you: - Meet people and ask them about their problems - Collect sample database - Select some people, ask them questions, and determine your answers based on their statements ### **2. Secondary Research** In this research, you search on the Internet to collect data and understand how you can enter the market and which product you should make. # **Need for Market Research** #### **1. Understand the customers’ pain points** - Market research helps in determining the current problem of your customers. - For example, if they need funds, you can come up with a financial product. #### **2. Understand the desire of the customers** - Market research helps in determining the expectations, goals, and desires of the customers. - You can fulfill the desire or goal of the customer using your products or services. #### **3. Design the product** - Market research helps in designing the features of the product. #### **4. Making sales pitch** - When you ask the customer about the problems they are facing and they tell you about their problem. - After that, if you ask them how you will feel if this problem is solved, then the customer will tell you the benefit he/she will get once the problem is solved. - So, you can make your sales pitch from this like you can tell the customers how your product will help them. #### **5. Improving the existing product** - Market research helps in improving your existing product with time. #### **6. Saving time, money, and energy** - Sometimes, you assume things in business that will lead to failures in the future. **For example:** Before UrbanClap, its Co-founder, Mr. Abhiraj Singh Bahl, has started a product, CinemaBox, which proves to be a failure because he has just made assumptions about customer needs instead of conducting market research. He has invested lots of money, time, and efforts in it but all goes in vain. So, you should conduct market research to save your time, money, and energy. # **Steps of Market Research** #### **1. Identify what your competitor is doing right** - For this, you can use Facebook and Google reviews. - Identify the reasons for which customer is giving them 5-star ratings and write these points. Implement all these things in your product or service. #### **2. Scan what your competitors are doing wrong** - Check why your competitor is getting 1- or 2-star ratings. - Make improvements in your product based on the reasons your competitor is getting 1 or 2 stars Repeat what your competitor is doing right and improve what your competitor is doing wrong. #### **3. Understand your customers by asking them direct questions** - Ask direct questions to your customers. - Ask them what problem they are facing #### **4. Ask customers what is the value benefit he is looking at** - Identify which value benefit your customers want, i.e. at how much price does they think the product can be purchased - Identify the rupees value the customer is attaching with the benefit. This will help you with pricing. - As the perceived value of diamonds is more for customers, thus, the prices of diamonds are very high. #### **5. Ask customers how difficult it is to solve the problem** - Ask customers how difficult they think it is to solve their problems themselves. - If the customer thinks that the problem is very difficult to solve, then they will give you a premium amount to solve it. These steps will help you to do some basic market research at your level. For conducting deep market research, you need to hire some agencies. # **#3 Tools for Conducting Market Research** #### **a. Microsoft Excel** - In MS Excel, you can write several questions and ask customers to answer them. #### **b. Google Forms** - Go to Google Drive and click on the Google Forms. - In the Google Forms, add your questions along with the options and collect answers to these questions from the customers. - If you link Google Forms with Google Sheets, then you can easily check who has given which answer. #### **c. Survey Monkey** - It is a big website in which people send questionnaires. #### **d. Facebook** - You can make Google Form and share it on Facebook. - Take feedback from some Facebook groups to determine whether your product is good or not. **e. Emails** - Send Google Forms to your complete email list. This will help you in a market survey. Before bringing any product, you should conduct market research. If you are going to make a huge investment, then you should go to a market research agency. In the case of small investment, you can conduct basic market research because if you go to market agencies, then they will be more costly for you.