Photo (CC) by One Way Stock, on Flickr

Knowing what your customer wants is the base to building a successful business.

Of course, you still must meet that need, let customers know you have what they want, and price it at a level that customers feel is acceptable. But the process begin with knowing the problem they are trying to solve.

Market research is how to get the answer to this question.

Small-business owners need to use market research. When doing so, they also need to remember that all customers are not the same and that desires change through time.

Examining and understanding each part of the demand for a business’ services and products will help the owner be far more precise in understanding and planning how to meet the demand. Just like owners know that customers have a variety of responses in terms of acceptable prices, customers vary in the specifics of what they want.

To understand the idea of market research better, let’s look at food-related businesses.

People need food to sustain themselves. Thus, the need is very basic. Yet the demands for food can take a variety of paths, which offers business owners various opportunities.

When thinking of the opportunities, an owner might begin with the foods your customer grew up with in terms of heritage, culture and local offerings. This is only the beginning today, however. Now some people want to experience new things. Others would like to do it themselves, while some want the foods already prepared. Of those who want it prepared, some want to do the final cooking at home, while others will get it from a full-service restaurant.

So one desire can turn out to be multiple desires and multiple opportunities for a business. This does not even take into account the fact that for customers, the choices aren’t an either/or but are somewhere on a continuum. 

As a market researcher, you shouldn’t stop there. You have individuals who need certain specific diets and others who just desire such a diet. You also have people who want the items grown locally and those who are happy to accept getting what they want from whatever source that will provide it.

Market research can find these niches. Each one may (emphasize the “may”) be an opportunity for a small business or a new line for an existing business. Knowing what the customer wants may not tell you a specific business to start. You still need to determine which of the opportunities is the best for you. 

Market research is not a one-time task, though. Times change, people change and our worldview changes. People age and travel, and technology brings new ideas. Thus, an opportunity today might not be there in five or 10 years. Look at restaurants that come and go. Think back to what grocery stores offered 10 years ago to what they offer today. Or go to a different region of the country and see how a grocery store’s offerings differ just based on regional differences.

Being successful in business means knowing what the customer wants. Knowing what your customer wants comes from ongoing market research.

Photo (CC) by Robert Scoble, on Flickr

Is 2015 the year you want to start your small business?

 If so, have you sat down to develop your business plan yet?

 Check out most how-to business guides and you will find a section on writing a business plan. Yet ask business owners and you often hear that they did a plan only because it was recommended by books and consultants or they wrote it to get money.

Thus, the business plan has gotten to be something that is beginning to seem less and less valuable in the popular press and academic writings.

Business plans are seen more and more as something that the banker requires. The business owner is more likely to view them as something, once written, get put on the shelf to gather dust.

Business owners also are likely to hear from their peers that they started a business without putting everything down on paper.

This view that a plan is unnecessary, however, misses the important aspect. It’s not the plan, which is just a thing, but the process or the doing of the plan that is the value.

Developing a business strategy and thinking about the why of developing the business, the who will benefit from the business, and the what it means to the potential customer and to the world are crucial when developing a successful business.

Developing these elements means coming somewhat from a different mindset. It also means that the owner is thinking how all of the elements may change. Change becomes part of the strategy.

A plan often becomes the end in itself. It is static and may not reflect the passion and excitement of the owner. A strategy gives a sense of what you want the final goal to be. By stating that, the path on how you get there opens up the options on how you reach the goal.

President Eisenhower focused on this difference between the process and the end result when he stated, “Plans are nothing; planning is everything.”

So if you are headed into business in 2015, you need to go through the planning process to increase your chances of business success. If you already have a plan but haven’t looked at it in some time, maybe you should revisit it with these thoughts in mind.