www.crowdfunder.com<\/a>) provide a new and innovative way to pitch your product to the general public in return for market validation in the form of pledges similar to pre-orders.<\/li><\/ul>Competitor intelligence<\/h4>
You\u2019ll want to identify who your competitors are, work out what percentage of your market buys from them (and why), and identify their strengths and weaknesses on a regular basis. This provides you with information that allows you to operate competitively and profitably.<\/p>
To identify all your competitors or to see if a new competitor has moved into your market, scan the telephone books and online business directories at regular intervals. Try an online search for industry key words or set up a Google Alert to monitor when your competitors are in the news online.<\/p>
Talk to friends and family to find out what they think of your competitors, visit their websites regularly, sign up for their marketing newsletters, shop at their stores or hire someone (even a friend) to do a mystery shop and report back to you, and read their adverts carefully with the purpose of understanding who they are targeting with their marketing.<\/p>
Include questions about the competition in your customer surveys to find out how your customers perceive them, and what drives their shopping decisions (price, convenience, location, customer service, product range, or after-sales service, for example).<\/p>
Talk to people in your industry, and in your industry supply chain. A casual chat with your suppliers, whether they supply raw materials, stationery or transport, might surprise you and reveal useful competitor information, such as order volumes increasing or decreasing.<\/p>
Using your research<\/h4>
Once you are armed with your market research, you\u2019ll have an idea of the size of your market and your share of the market relative to your competitors (or the potential for muscling in on the market as a start-up).<\/p>
You\u2019ll know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors and how to position yourself in the market to take advantage of this. You\u2019ll know how loyal your customers are, what they want and what drives their buying decisions \u2013 all of which will help to increase customer satisfaction and your bottom line.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t