Market research is a tool that is used to get an overview of the current market and its trends. It can help startups identify the potential for their product or service in the market.

The main goal of market research is to find out what customers want, when they want it, how much they will pay for it, and who the competitors are. It also helps in determining if there is a need for a product or service before spending time and money on developing it.

What is market research?

Market research is the process of gathering information about consumers' needs and wants, and then using that information to determine how best to satisfy those needs and wants. The findings of market research can either validate or disprove hypotheses about customers, their habits and needs, where they are located, and what the competition is doing.

The main functions of market research are to:

Identify what your clients want. Get information about your clients. Help you to determine what the most effective strategies for giving your services are, so that you can meet their needs. The services that you have can be improved.

When there are no alternative sources of information, and when you do not have the resources to test your own assumptions about how the clients you serve will respond to your services, you will start to rely on second-hand information and opinion, which is not as reliable. A key to the success of any business and the one that is often misunderstood by clients, managers, and consultants alike is the idea that the product and service or product and service ideas that they develop should be tested and measured to determine how well they are working.

To test your ideas, you have to have feedback from a sampling of your target market. It is very likely that they do not see the need for this. This is a simple concept but in practice it can be very hard to convince many people that they need to take the time and effort to ask their customers if they like your services. There the main aim of market research is to help entrepreneurs to develop successful business strategies by validating your hypotheses.

Benefits of market research

Market research have various profits for a startup such as decreasing the risk of business/strategy failure. It also can provide businesses with a wealth of information about their customers, including:

-What products and services they are interested in

-What kinds of features and pricing they are looking for

-What kinds of branding strategies and packaging they prefer

-Where they prefer to shop

-Their shopping habits

-Their preferred location

-Their demographics

-Current and future trends in their spending habits

-Their purchasing behaviors

-Any other demographic or personal information that may be of interest.

Types of Market Research

Despite the constancy of its definition, market research can be grouped into different types according to its specific goals, the kind of information it gathers, and the way that information is collected.

Based on the research goal

Market research depends on a lot of factors. For example, the definition of market research might change as society changes. It is important to consider the types of research that are needed for each kind of project. Each type of market research can be useful for different reasons and the goals of each project should help to choose the correct type of market research tool.

Exploratory research: exploratory research is a type of market research that explores the data and patterns to find out what is happening in the market. It helps in understanding the needs and wants of consumers. It also helps in understanding competitors, products, and services offered by them.

Descriptive research: descriptive research is a type of market research that provides information about people or a group of people based on their demographics and other variables.

Casual research: casual research is a type of market research that provides information about people or groups based on their opinions, attitudes, beliefs, preferences etc.

Based on the type of info

Qualitative research is a type of market research that focuses on understanding the people and the environment. This type of research requires in-depth interviews, observations, focus groups, and other similar activities to get to know the target audience. These types of market research are based on the interpretation of the customer’s needs and their feedback. It can be conducted through interviews or focus groups. Exploratory research intends to do this way of research.

Quantitative research is a type of market research that focuses on numbers and statistics. It helps businesses understand how well their product or service is performing in comparison to its competitors. These types of market research are based on numbers such as surveys, polls, or online questionnaires.

Based on the methods of data collection

Primary research is the most common form of market research. It is the first-hand data that is collected by the startup or an out-sourced company. It is a way to collect data directly from consumers, either through questionnaires, observations, surveys or interviews.

Secondary research is an indirect form of market research. It involves researching information that has already been collected by other people and organizations, such as reports, articles, or other publications. Secondary research can be used to supplement primary research with more specific information about a particular topic.

The type of market research you do will depend on what information you are looking for. Primary research will give you more accurate information about a topic than secondary research because it is collected firsthand from the source.

The different methods of market research

Different types of research use different methods of data collection. These market research methods can be further classified into two categories as mentioned above:

1. Primary research methods, which include surveys, interviews, and focus groups;

2. Secondary research methods, which include data mining, analysis of government and industry reports, review of the scientific literature or other information resources.

The first step in any market research is defining the problem. What are you trying to do? What is your goal?

The next step is to identify who your audience is and define a sample group. Who do you want to reach? What are their demographics? How old are they? Where do they live?

Once you have identified that, you need to figure out your type and method of market research based on existing factors. Is primary research suitable for us or a secondary one? Shall we do a qualitative or quantitative one? If you decided to do a primary research, you would probably need to conduct a questionnaire either.

When you are done with the type and method of research, start doing the research. This part is the most time-consuming part.

Finally when you are done with your market research, it’s time to summarize and analyze your result. This is when you can validate your hypothesis or idea of your startup and make wise and informed decisions based on your collected data.

How to use market research findings

When you're conducting market research, it's important to use the findings to improve your business. Here are a few tips on how to do that:

·         Make sure you understand the findings.

·         Use the findings to make decisions about your products and services.

·         Take action based on the findings.

·         Monitor the results of your decisions. Making decisions based on market research findings can be tricky. There might be some decisions that failed to take into account all the data that are collected. Before you make a decision, read through all the findings and consider what the data means for your business. For example ask yourself: How will my decisions affect the products and services we offer? What is the best decision based on the findings?