Sharing an invention with the world can be tough. You must have seen plenty of movies or heard stories about how successful businessmen and women got to where they are today, and most of them start with a struggle. Many entrepreneurs dream of the day that their product or service can affect the lives of millions of people. However, to get there, a lot of research and hard work has to happen.
Even though inventors and innovators have already studied extensively regarding the product, market research is a whole other thing. Many aspects can make or break the product or service’s success. Some of them are the demand from the customers, the price point the business enters with, and the clients’ awareness about what the company offers.
Predicting the Demand
As they say, the mother of invention and innovation is a necessity. Entrepreneurs should know if their product or service will solve a pain point. This way, the demand can be unarguably present. People who want to get rid of a problem or make their lives easier will want to purchase something, anything that can help. So, if you are planning to enter a market, you need to check if there is a demand for what you are offering.
Some common examples of market research are conducting a survey or a focus group. These will give you a feel of how potential customers will respond to your product or service without having to realize it after all the capital in building a factory or an office space. It will save you and your investors time and money if you know that it is not a fit for the market early on. Surveys and discussion groups are primary sources of information in marketing.
A secondary source of information in marketing could be data from your potential competitors. If the product or service is already being offered, you could email the businesses involved regarding their demand for the last few years. Using the historical data for the demand, you can calculate or predict the projected demand for the next few years. This will give you a heads up if there is room in the market for another company, as well as how many supplies you might need in the future.
Price Studies
Another piece of secondary data you can gather is the price that competitors in the market are offering their products or service for. You could use a penetrative pricing strategy, where your product is priced lower than other companies. This can entice some potential customers to try out your new product. On the other hand, you could enter the same price as the other businesses and offer more than they currently do.
In the instance where you might not have existing competitors because no one else sells your product or service, you could conduct a survey. Try to figure out how much people are willing to pay for what you offer. The challenge here is to make sure that you will still earn money while pleasing the market. But if they happen to provide a price much higher than your costs, then you could still be in business. Most clients will only purchase new inventions or innovations if they think it is worth the price.
Educating the Market
You might have noticed that some salesmen still knock on doors today, trying to get buyers for their product or service. One of the obstacles that inventors or innovators face is educating the market regarding their products or service. This is especially true if you are involved in technology. As it is, some people find it difficult to understand. Introducing an innovation or invention to them can get complicated.
Developing a marketing strategy will help penetrate the target customer base. For example, if you are involved in the technology industry, look into tech PR companies that can create the right brand image for the company while educating potential clients. This is the most crucial aspect of entering the market — the brand image. The price study can contribute to a company’s brand image, but it can all fall apart without the proper marketing strategy and dissemination of information.
Marketing is deceptively one of the hardest parts of the business for some entrepreneurs. Others might think it is easy to overcome, but one wrong move and the company can have a hard time recovering. It will always be a present force in the success of any venture.
