June 14th, 2006 by 
Brandon Hopkins Gauge the Need
Gauging the need for your product or service is essentially researching the market. You know your product. You know your customer. Now you must discover your spot in the marketplace. Performing a market survey means really getting down to the nitty-gritty of your plan. Potential investors are going to insist upon knowing who wants your product. Where are those perspective customers located? How are you going to get to them? Did anyone get there ahead of you? If so, how many and is the market large enough for you and your competitors? How will you distinguish yourself from the other players in the market? So, how do you get this information, particularly if you’re working with a limited budget?
Publications, trade shows and associations.
The easiest and most inexpensive way to begin gauging the need for your product/service is networking. Pick up a few publications directed toward your business, read them thoroughly. Look for articles about those who have been successful building the type of business you are contemplating. Study stories highlighting current trends and customer sentiment. Find one or two trade shows taking place in your area.
Attend the trade shows. Ask questions, exchange business cards and, above all, listen. Go to the monthly meetings of any associations. Remember, these folks may be your competitors but they aren’t your enemies. Many will be happy to discuss their businesses with you.
Ask your audience.
Find out who currently serves the needs of those you hope to have as customers. Are they satisfied with the products and services they are receiving? How could their needs be better met? Consider a focus group or a telephone survey. Conducting a focus group and/or a survey is not for amateurs. While it may cost a little more to have professional assistance in setting up these groups, the results will be more creditable for both you and your investors. In order for the answers to be useful, the questions must be properly posed and the information received must be correctly analyzed. You don’t want to base your decisions on faulty intelligence.
Define and refine.
Now it’s time to see if your market research validates your original thinking. There are very few business ideas that won’t have to be tweaked at least a little after investigating the marketplace. View the information and responses you received as objectively as possible. Don’t be wedded to any aspect of your idea or take criticism personally. There may have been important issues which you failed to consider; that doesn’t mean your whole idea is without merit. A successful entrepreneur uses all the resources available to craft the best possible product/service. Flexibility and creativity are two important traits to cultivate when starting any business.
You’ve come a long way since that first hazy list of goals. Things are really beginning to come together. Before going any further though you need to protect the ideas that you’ve worked so hard to develop: Next step, the often dreaded but absolutely imperative visit to an attorney.