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‘Without understanding the customer, there is no product’ - this indeed is an important lesson to learn. To know the end consumer and designing the product and service around it has been customary action of businesses around the world. Yes there could be a possibility that many products these days create need for products, yet studying the customer is a key to achieving success in creating that need.

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In case of franchising, need of the customer is studied and the products and services are designed based on same with universal applicability. Then, is it still needed that the Franchisee knows his/her customer? Indeed, yes! It is more crucial for a franchisee to assess the need for a product and identify the right target market for the product/ service that he/she is purchasing from the franchisor.

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Will the product/ service have sufficient demand?

Would people pay that much for the product or service?

Was sales overestimated?

Will the product layout be suitable for the target market?

Will product design and attributes meet the target market needs?

What should be the marketing plan?

What will be the revenue plan?

In case of franchise especially, identifying target market helps in determining the location, design, size of the franchise venture, in many a cases, in the selection of franchise business itself is essential. Identifying the right target market ensures franchisee in understanding:

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There is an absolute insight into the customer’s mind and the franchisee will be able to not only make better decision if a particular franchise business will be successful or not, but also continuous research of target market will keep franchisee on foot in ensuring that he/she provides consumer feedback on product or service to the franchisor for timely up-gradation or changing specific attributes of the product, service or layout and the like.

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The essential determinants of target market will differ from product to

product. The key elements that are to be considered are age group,

education, cultural background, location. Apart from this it is also

essential to understand the competitors and the target group’s attitude

towards competitors.

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This list will assist in assessing if IIHT Technologies has potentially a huge

market in a given region. IIHT Technologies Franchise delivers education

and training in the field of IT (Information Technology) and IMS

(Infrastructure Management Services).

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IIHT Technologies has potential in the said market if

• There is need for skilled education and training in IT and IMS

• There are huge population of youth who are undergraduates and want to enter IT field

• There are graduates with huge unemployment and underemployment issues

• There are IT professionals whose skills are getting obsolete due to new technologies like Cloud, IT Security, Mobile Computing, Software Development and Infrastructure Management.

• There are youth who want international certifications courses

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A simple survey among the youth and IT professionals will help in understanding the need for IIHT Technologies Franchise in any given geographical area. A survey conducted by IIHT Technologies itself shows that there is huge skill gap in countries like South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe and Nigeria among others in the field of IT IMS. The list further includes nations like USA, Australia, India and China. With governments adopting the latest technologies the skill gap is bound to grow. Even though there are many institutes that are providing training, academic qualifications are not available among the existing institutes that capture the exact combination of technologies, hands on experiences and skill rich course modules. Many universities across the world are inviting IIHT Technologies to their skill curriculum. Universities include University of Wolverhampton, Rotterdam University, United Methodist University, Sikkim Manipal University, Wesley University of Science and Technology. IIHT Technologies, as a result of its deliverables, has become one of the renowned Franchise Businesses in Africa.

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Corporate Headquarters#15,Sri Lakshmi Complex, 4th Floor, St. Marks Road, Bangalore - 560 001. India

Tel: 91 80 6160 4545 e-mail: franchise@iihttechnologies.com web: www.iihttechnologies.com/