A market in its
entirety is too broad in scope for any but the largest companies to tackle
successfully. However, there are undoubtedly some particular products or
services you are especially suited to provide.
Study the market
carefully and you will find opportunities. As an example, surgical
instruments used to be sold in bulk to both small medical practices and
large hospitals. One firm realized that the smaller practices could not
afford to sterilize instruments after each use like hospitals did, but
instead simply disposed of them. The firm's sales representatives talked
to surgeons and hospital workers to learn what would be more suitable for
them. Based on this information, the company developed disposable
instruments which could be sold in larger quantities at a lower cost.
Another firm capitalized on the fact that hospital operating rooms must
carefully count the instruments used before and after surgery. This firm
met that particular need by packaging their instruments in pre-counted,
customized sets for different forms of surgery.
While researching
your own company's niche, consider the results of your market survey and
the areas in which your competitors are already firmly situated. Put this
information into a table or a graph to illustrate where an opening might
exist for your product or service. Try to find the right configuration of
products, services, quality, and price that will ensure the least direct
competition. Unfortunately, there is no universally effective way to make
these comparisons. Not only will the desired attributes vary from industry
to industry, but there is also an imaginative element that cannot be
formalized. For example, only someone who had already thought of
developing pre-packaged surgical instruments could use a survey to
determine whether or not a market actually existed for them.
A
well-designed database can help you sort through your market information
and reveal particular segments you might not see otherwise. For example,
do customers in a certain geographic area tend to purchase products that
combine high quality and high price more frequently? Do your small
business clients take advantage of your customer service more often than
larger ones? If so, consider focusing on being a local provider of high
quality goods and services, or a service-oriented company that pays extra
attention to small businesses.
If you do target a new niche
market, make sure that this niche does not conflict with your overall
business plan. For example, a small bakery that makes cookies by hand
cannot go after a market for inexpensive, mass-produced cookies,
regardless of the demand. |
