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（1e） as a mune aiming to be the top technical experts in
their field。 The business name es from the message that appears on
your screen when your puter has crashed。 Within a year of starting
up the team had learnt two important lessons。 Businesses need leaders；
not munes； if they are to grow fast and prosper； and they need
someone to sell。
On the remendation of an adviser Karayi went on a selling course
and within months had won the first of what became a string of blue chip
clients。 The pany is now one of the 10 fastest…growing panies in
the Thames Valley； with annual turnover approaching ￡15 million； profits
of 30 per cent and partners and reseller partners worldwide。
Marketing 111
MARKET RESEARCH
The purpose of market research is to ensure you have sufficient information
on customers； petitors and markets so that you can be reasonably
confident that enough people want to buy what you want to sell at a price
that will give you a viable business proposition。
You do not have to launch a product or enter a market to prove there
are no customers for your goods or services； frequently； even some modest
market research beforehand can give clear guidance as to whether your venture
will succeed or not。
While big businesses may employ market research agencies to design
and execute their research； an MBA should both understand the process
and be able to carry out elementary research themselves quickly and on a
low budget。
The fundamental goals of market research
The purpose of market research from an MBA’s perspective is twofold：
1。 To build credibility for a business proposition。 The MBA must demonstrate；
first to his or her own satisfaction； and later to colleagues；
superiors and eventually to financiers； a thorough understanding of the
marketplace for the new product； service or strategy。 This will be vital if
resources are to be a。。racted to execute the proposal。
2。 To develop a realistic market entry strategy for the proposed course of
action； based on a clear understanding of genuine customer needs and
ensuring that product quality； price； promotional methods and the distribution
chain are mutually supportive and clearly focused on target
customers。
You will need to research in particular：
。 Your customers： Who will buy your goods and services？ What particular
customer needs will your business meet？ How many of them are
there？
。 Your petitors： Which established panies are already meeting
the needs of your potential customers？ What are their strengths and
weaknesses？
。 Your product or service： How should it be tailored to meet customer
needs？
。 What price should you charge to be perceived as giving value for
money？
。 What promotional material is needed to reach customers； which newspapers；
journals do they read？
112 The Thirty…Day MBA
。 Whether or not your operational base is satisfactorily located to reach
your customers most easily； at minimum cost。
Seven steps to successful market research
Researching the market need not be a plex process； nor need it be
very expensive。 The amount of effort and expenditure needs to be related
in some way to the costs and risks associated with the proposition。 The
market research needs to be conducted systematically following these
seven stages：
1。 Formulate the problem： Before embarking on your market research you
should first set clear and precise objectives； rather than just se。。ing out to
find interesting general information about the market。
So； for example； if you are planning on selling to young fashion…conscious
women； among others； your research objective could be： to find
out how many women aged 18 to 28； with an ine of over ￡35；000
a year； live or work within your catchment area。 That would give you
some idea whether the market could support a venture such as this。
2。 Determine the information needs： Knowing the size of the market；
in the example given above； may require several different pieces of
information。 For example； you would need to know the size of the
resident population； which might be fairly easy to find out； but you
might also want to know something about people who e into
the catchment area to work or stay on holiday or for any other major
purpose。 There might； for example； be a hospital； library； railway station
or school nearby that also pulled potential customers to that particular
area。
3。 Where can you get the information？ This will involve either desk research
in libraries or on the internet； or field research； which you can do
yourself or get help in doing。 Some of the most important of these areas
are covered later in this chapter。
Field research； that is； ge。。ing out and asking questions yourself； is
the most fruitful way of gathering original information that can provide
petitive advantage
4。 Decide the budget： Market research will not be free even if you do it
yourself。 At the very least there will be your time。 There may well be
the cost of journals； phone calls； le。。ers and field visits to plan for。 At the
top of the scale could be the costs of employing a professional market
research firm。
Starting at this end of the scale； a business…to…business survey prising
200 interviews with executives responsible for office equipment
purchasing decisions cost one pany ￡12；000。 Twenty in…depth interviews
with consumers who are regular users of certain banking services
Marketing 113
cost ￡8；000。 Using the internet for web surveys is another possibility； but
that can impose too much of your agenda onto the recipients and turn
them away from you。
Check out panies such as Free Online Surveys （h。。p：//free…onlinesurveys。
co。uk） and Zoomerang （zoomerang/web/signup/
Basic。aspx） which provide so。。ware that lets you carry out online
surveys and analyse the data quickly。 Most of these organizations offer
free trials。
Doing the research yourself may save costs but may limit the objectivity
of the research。 If time is your scarcest modity； it may make
more sense to get an outside agency to do the work。 Using a reference
librarian or university student to do some of the spadework need not
be prohibitively expensive。 Another argument for ge。。ing professional
research is that it may carry more clout with investors。
Whatever the cost of research； you need to assess its value to you when
you are se。。ing your budget。 If ge。。ing it wrong would cost ￡100；000；
then ￡5；000 spent on market research might be a good investment。
5。 Select the research technique： If you cannot find the data you require
from desk research； you will need to go out and find the data yourself。
The options for such research are described later in this section； under
‘Field research’。
6。 Construct the research sample population： It is rarely possible or even
desirable to include every possible customer or petitor in your
research。 So； you have to decide how big a sample you need to give you
a reliable indication of how the whole population will behave。
7。 Process and analyse the data： The raw market research data needs to be
analysed and turned into information to guide your decisions on price；
promotion and location； and the shape； design and scope of the product
or service itself。
Desk research
There is increasingly a great deal of secondary data available in published
form and accessible either online or via business sections of public libraries
throughout the UK to enable new home business starters both to quantify
the size of market sectors they are entering and to determine trends in those
markets。 In addition to populations of cities and towns （helping to start
quantification of markets）； libraries frequently purchase Mintel reports；
involving studies of growth in different business sectors。 Government
statistics； showing trends in the economy； are also held （Annual Abstracts
for the economy as a whole； Business Monitor for individual sectors）。
If you plan to sell to panies or shops； Kompass and Kelly’s directories
list all pany names and addresses （including buyers’ telephone
numbers）。 Many industrial sectors are represented by trade associations；
114 The Thirty…Day MBA
which can provide information （see Directory of British Associations； CBD
Research）； while Chambers of merce are good sources of reference for
import/export markets。
These are some readily available sources of desk research data that an
MBA can use without tapping deeply into the corporate budget：
。 Applegate （applegate。uk） has information on 237；165 panies
cross…referenced to 57；089 products in the UK and Ireland。 It has a
neat facility that allows you to search out the top businesses and people
in any industry。
。 Business （business）： Contains some 400；000 listings in
25；000 industry； product； and service sub…categories。 Useful for general
industry background or details about a particular product line。
。 Chambers of merce （chamberonline。uk 》 International
Trade 》 International Chambers） run import/export clubs； international
trade contacts and provide market research and online intelligence
through a 150…country local network of chambers。 Their Link2Exports
（link2exports。uk） website provides specific information on
export markets by industry sector by country。
。 panies House （wwwpanieshouse。gov。uk） is the official
repository of all pany information in the UK。 Their WebCHeck
service offers a free…of…charge searchable pany Names and
Address Index which covers 2 million panies either by name or
by their unique pany registration number。 You can use WebCHeck
to purchase a pany’s latest accounts giving details of sales； profits；
margins； directors； shareholders and bank borrowings at a cost of ￡1
per pany。
。 Corporate Information （corporateinformation 》 TOOLS 》
Research Links） is a business information site covering the main world
economies； offering plenty of free information。 This link takes you to
sources of business information in over 100 countries。
。 Easy Searcher 2 （easysearcher） is a collection of 400 search
engines； both general and specialist； available on drop…down menus；
listed by category。
。 Euro Info Centres （euro…info。uk） is a network of 250 centres
across Europe providing local access to a range of specialist information
and advisory services to help business owners expand。 Their services
include advice on funding as well as help with market information
through their network contacts and specialist information services。
。 Kelly’s （kellysearch。uk） lists information on 200；000 product
and service categories across 200 countries。 Business contact details；
basic product and service details and online catalogues are provided。
Marketing 115
。 Key Note Ltd （keynote。uk） has built a reputation as an expert
provider of market information； producing highly respected off…theshelf
publications that cover a prehensive range of market sectors；
from mercial and industrial to service and consumer titles。 Its report
gallery has a listing of literally hundreds of reports covering everything
from Activity Holidays to Women’s Magazines。 The executive summary；
a generous 1；000 words plus a full index； is available free on
every report； which should make it clear if the report is worth buying；
or worth a trip to a major reference library that may well have a copy to
view。 Reports are priced from around ￡300 upwards； with most in the
￡500 to ￡700 range。
。 Kompass （kompass） claims to have details of 1。6 million UK
panies； 23 million key product and service references； 3。2 million
executive names； 744；000 trade and brand names and 50；000 Kompass
classification codes in its UK directory。 It also creates directory information
in over 70 countries。 Its website has a free access area that
users may access without registration。
。 LexisNexis （lexis…nexis） has literally dozens of databases
covering every sector you can think of； but most useful for researching
petitors is pany Analyser； which creates prehensive pany
reports drawn from 36 separate sources； with up to 250 documents
per source providing access to accurate information about a pany。
。 Mintel （mintel） publishes over 400 reports every year examining
every conceivable consumer market。 Reports cost several
hundred pounds； but you can view the introduction and main headings。
Most are available free in business libraries。 Mintel also offers a number
of reports on the US and European markets。
。 National Statistics （statistics。gov。uk） contains a vast range of
official UK statistics and information about statistics； which can be
accessed and downloaded free。 There are 13 separate themes。 Each
one deals with a distinct and easily recognizable area of national life。
So； whether you are looking to access the very latest statistics on the
UK’s economy； or research and survey information released by the
government； or want to study popular trends and facts； click on one of
these themes and explore！
。 Online Newspapers （onlinenewspapers）。 Newspapers and
magazines are a source of considerable information on panies；
markets and products in that sphere of interest。 Virtually every online
newspaper in the