To start and run a successful business you need to understand your customers and your target market. Market research can help you to understand and make informed decisions about the marketing of your products and services.

There are different types of market research: primary and secondary. Primary research involves gathering information first-hand through surveys, interviews, and talking to (potential) customers and other businesses. Your research can be formal or informal. Secondary research uses information and data that has already been collected and analyzed by others. You can research your markets using information such as government statistics and trade publications.

Evaluate your target audience

A key purpose of market research is to get to know your target customers. You need to understand who is going to buy your product and why? What are their needs and pain points? How can you reach them? How do they make a decision to buy? Where will you find and how will you communicate with them?

Research the competition and market saturation

You need to know your competition, so you can beat them and prevent them from taking your customers. Remember competition is not always a bad thing; it means there is already a healthy market for your product or service and that customers are willing to pay. Learn as much as you can about how your competitors attract customers, what value they provide and anything they are missing.

At the same time, check for market saturation. You may think that the coffee shop or the flower shop in your neighbourhood looks like a great business idea, because it seems to be flourishing, but you need to consider: are there enough customers for this type of business? Maybe the market is already saturated with numerous businesses offering similar products or services. If you want to enter an already crowded market, what will be your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)? How will you stand out and be different? Will you have a more specialized service? A lower price? Something that no one else can offer? Simply copying another business or business idea is not a winning approach. You need to understand the market size and the portion of this you can potentially capture.

Validate your idea

It’s a good idea at this stage to field test your idea, product or service. Speak to potential customers and get their feedback on your proposed product or service and see how interested they are in it and whether they would be willing to pay for it. You can do through by sending out surveys, talking to people in person or on social media, running ads or attempting a pre-sale campaign to gauge interest.

Ngeay Ngeay also offers a free video course in Khmer to help you prepare a marketing strategy for your business here.