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Put simply, learning about a market is answering the questions who, where and how many potential customers you have. First, determine your geographic region. Next, entrepreneurs must learn who their competitors are, and discover their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, envision your ideal customers, and brainstorm ways to reach them. Defining the market-learning who needs the product/service and where these people are located and how many of them there are-is critical to successful entrepreneurship.

Geography

Determining where to set up shop is among the most important decisions you have to make. The first step in determining geographic service area is to ascertain how far the customers are willing to travel. Next, determine how many "perfect" customers are in the given geographic area. After settling on a broad geographic region, the next step is to pinpoint the best available spot in relation to exposure, traffic, climate, neighborhood, parking and customer convenience. Be sure to check on zoning to be certain your business fits the zoning codes of your selected site.

Public libraries and city halls are excellent places to start hunting for this information.

Competition

Every business has competition, if not direct, then for the limited dollars available in the marketplace. Entrepreneurs must find a draw or niche to obtain a share of the market.

Once the competition has been identified, step two is deciding the additional benefits your customer will receive by choosing your business over theirs.

Get to know your competition. In some instances it may be possible to cooperate with potential competitors and create relationships that may allow each of you to reach or serve a new and larger market.

Customers

Learning whom is most likely to patronize a given business is a tough issue that many entrepreneurs struggle with. The best approach to this problem is to formulate an
ideal customer by profiling the type of customer likely to yield the most business.

Demographic Data can provide information about your potential customers, including age, income level, spending patterns, address, and family compositions.

Customer Preference Information gives information about people's lifestyles, hobbies, beliefs, and attitudes. For instance does your customer prefer 100% organic products?

Combining demographic and customer preference information will lead you to a picture of your ideal customer. Western Dairyland can help you access and assess this information. Call (715) 836-7511 ext. 171 or (800) 782-1063 to setup an appointment with a counselor or reserve time in our computer lab.

Western Dairyland Small Business Administration