• Photos
  • Galery
  • YouTube Videos
  • Social Harold
  • Internet Digest 1996
  • Best of the Web

Harold Carey Jr

Photojournalist, Navajo Historian & Online Learning Instructor

Conducting Market Research

November 21, 2007 By harold

What Information Do You Want to Know and Why?
What information about your current or potential customers will help you serve them better? Demographic data and travel patterns can help you determine the feasibility of opening a new location, while knowledge about their daily schedules can help you set more convenient hours of operation.See What’s Already Been Discovered.
There is probably more published information available about your type of business and target market than you realize. Among the best sources are the U.S. Census Bureau, national and regional business publications, trade organizations and your local chamber of commerce.

Build on What You’re Doing
It’s easy to make market research a part of your day-to-day activities. Retailers can use sales receipts, delivery orders and charge slips to identify where customers live, or monitor inventory trends to gauge the popularity of certain product lines. Tracking orders of daily specials helps restaurant owners determine which dishes are most popular on a weekly or seasonal basis.

Watch the Competition
You can gain some valuable insights by studying the practices of successful competing businesses. No espionage is required. Just be observant about when and where they advertise, the setting and layout of their various locations, operating practices, etc. Remember that their approach may be driven by circumstances substantially different from yours.

Talk to Your Customers
As a small business owner, you’re face-to-face with your customers. Your market research can be as informal as observing customers in the store or doing a survey and as elaborate as conducting a full-scale research program with focus groups and computer-generated maps. A market research firm or ad agency will cost more than a “homemade” strategy, of course, but you will have the benefit of the consultant’s experience and objectivity.

Filed Under: Marketing

Harold Carey Jr

I travel the Southwest and the world taking photos and doing travel reviews as a Google Local Guide.
I have over 30 million views of my photos on Google Maps and over 800 travel reviews

My Google Local Photos

My Social-Media Sites

facebook_icon-50

twitter-logo-50

Recent Posts

  • The Navajo Nation Fair
  • Santa Fe Indian Market
  • Gallup Inter-Tribal Ceremonial
  • Day 3 – Union City
  • USA Trip Day 1 – Malad ID to Reno NV

My Websites

  • Navajo People
  • Navajo People Blog
  • Navajo People Photo Gallery
  • Navajo Arts
  • Navajo Artists
  • Crownpoint Rug Auction
  • Northern Navajo Nation Fair
  • Self Reliant Living

Copyright © 2022 · Log in