Typical Market Research Project Page

A manufacturer in one industry, develops an idea for a new product (or service) in another industry. They approach us and would like to learn about the other industry, identify the potential market for their new product, identify major problems and risks they may encounter along the way and receive other information they need to make good business decisions concerning the further development of their new product.

We are rarely able to furnish every piece of information listed below for a single project, but we often find additional information beyond the items listed. Our findings depend on what is available, we do not create information, we report it. In the end we provide our clients with a very strong understanding of the environment surrounding the potential market. We try to identify the dynamics behind the industries. We do no just report how things are, we report why things are like they are and why they may be likely to change in the future. With a clear understanding of the industry and market, our clients make better decisions on how to proceed (or if they should proceed at all) with their new products.

Our first step usually involves shooting from the hip and gathering information that rapidly comes to mind. Soon, we settle down into a well documented process using tools on our                                                 :

1.  We take a quick look at the new product to make sure it is at least somewhat unique and does not have any major obvious safety or regulatory issues. If our client intends to license the idea, we conduct a more in-depth review of the patent literature, printed media and the internet. This review increases their confidence the product has the amount of  uniqueness required for licensing or we make them aware the product has minimal licensing potential due to the existence of other similar products before proceeding further.

2. We specifically identify the industry under study, including its SIC and NAICS codes which are often useful in further research.

3. We provide a good basic understanding of the industry, annual sales of similar products (volume and $), trends, major firms in the industry, market channels, market share information, recent new products, services and technologies in the industry, competitive products, other things competing for the same dollars, recent industry new, current industry concerns, etc.

4. We identify trade organizations, trade publications and trade shows and try to learn as much from them as possible.

5. We provide information about consumers of the product or service all the way to the end user (demographics, geographical distribution, amounts consumed, where they buy it, how they use it, etc)

6. We conduct a more extensive study of patent literature to provide comments on what may be coming on the horizon in this area, where new developments are coming from, who is licensing patents in this area, identify useful information in patents and attempt to identify any intellectual property problems.

7. We identify major legal issues in the industry, product liability concerns, etc. that may impact the product or service.

8. We identify major regulatory issues in the industry that may impact the product or service.

9. We provide profiles of major firms in the industry.

10. We try to provide market data on specific brands and models.

11. We provide reviews of similar products or products accomplishing similar tasks.

12. We define the type of competition in the industry (dominated by one firm, a few firms, very fragmented, etc).

13. We discuss the geography of the industry. Is there some geographical relationship between existing firms, customers, raw materials, etc.

14. We discuss the history of the industry and any impact it may have on new products.

15. We discuss the impact of weather and climate on the industry and its products.

16. We may briefly examine the international market and any impact it may have on the U.S. market.

17. We often interview people from the industry as well as search for previous comments they may have made in trade publications or other sources.

18. We typically provide an online web page of links for the industry under study that can be used to monitor it in the future and be easily accessed by our client. The page can be hosted by us or provided to the client for internal hosting by them.

The materials above are organized into sections. A brief summary is  written. Each section begins with a brief introduction, followed by copies of relevant materials.

The entire collection of materials are typically assembled in two to four Kinkos spiral binders. Two copies are provided to the client.

Cost depends on the time required and expenses incurred. Projects are quoted individually, but a typical U.S. market research project takes about 35 research hours (at $100/hr = $3,500), 25 to 30 organizing and writing hours (no charge) and about $500 in expenses for a total of $4,000.

Typical expenses are database access fees, purchased reports, mileage,  telephone & fax charges, copying & binding expenses, postage, freight charges, overnight shipping charges, ink jet cartridges, paper and travel expenses.

Again, this is just an example. We can alter our approach to meet our your needs.

Please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your needs.