Section 5 - How to Conduct Market Research for Business Start-Ups

Introduction

In this section we will look at market research and how it's conducted. In order to provide the best and most useful products and services, a business must know what customers need. This is one of the functions of market research.

There are two main methods of conducting market research:

• Primary method - This is the collection of new data
• Secondary Method - This is the use of existing data

These methods each have advantages and disadvantages, so the business must be fully informed of the pros and cons of the methods they choose for the purposes of conducting market research. Volume and quality are two major factors in deciding which methodology is best for any market research project. This introduces the relevance of qualitative and quantitive research and how these are utilised by market researchers.

Market sampling, sizes and types are needed when focusing on target groups and making sure that the research is the most representative of that group audience. There are a number of of processes which influence the use of market sampling, as well as risks that should be avoided.

Once the collection of market research information is complete, the analysis of information then takes place in stages. The data is thoroughly examined and evaluated through a range of statistical techniques.