MARKETEST United House North Road Phone: 020 7687 1234

London N7 9DP www.marketest.co.uk – eric@marketest.co.uk 1

Testing your business idea before launching it on the market

The current economic climate is having an impact on businesses large and small. What is clear is that the uncertainty means that researching a business’ market has never been more important.

Lack of objectivity

Many entrepreneurs think that their business idea will be the next million pound thing. Entrepreneurs are passionate so it is hard for them not to see it. The fact that their family is encouraging them and think that what they do is great doesn’t help either. This support and motivation is necessary in this adventure and help to take up this challenge. However, the result of it is that some entrepreneurs may not test enough their market before starting their business. Many entrepreneurs only request feedback on their project from their family circle for their primary research which will of course, give them some positive return.

It is important to ask some feedback to your precise target market (potential customers) and to do it in a neutral and unbiased way. You need to carry out a quantitative research (survey) and find a way to interview your market. If your market is hard to reach you can do it alongside an agency. It is a far more objective solution and is at last affordable to those with a small budget thanks to the online method.

Give some figures to your business plan

Market research determines the feasibility of a project and it’s a way to adapt a business’ strategy (communication, pricing policy, products range…). A good and precise market research will professionalize your setup approach and will give more value to your business plan. Doing quantitative market research is a solution to add a personal touch to your market research as you are testing “your” precise target market about “your” precise project. It will make your project even more credible and it will help you to convince financial partners and others. Many entrepreneurs are looking for finance and that kind of information could be an asset to get external support.

Entrepreneurs should always test market their ideas before starting to sell them to their market. Market testing enable entrepreneurs to know who their potential clients are, their competitors and if there will be a demand for their products/services on the market. Market testing is a kind of investment which could save entrepreneurs future losses if their products and services fail to meet a need in the market.