MARKET RESEARCH: THE CORNERSTONE OF A GOOD BUSINESS STRATEGY

Let’s be honest: it’s easy for business owners to become complacent, clinging to the original ideas that their businesses were built on. Change is often resisted, especially by seasoned entrepreneurs. However, the reality is your business is either growing or declining. There is no middle ground in business, it is either you are moving forward or declining.

According to forbes and multiple business data sources on business failures, over 45% of new businesses fail within the first 5 years and 70% of businesses die within the first 10 years of operation mainly due to failure to research the market, and prepare a business plan that aligns with the market environment they are operating in. These businesses die because they fail to adapt to the changing business landscape, obsolescence due to competition, roll out products and services that are not a reflection of the market needs, miss crucial opportunities because their strategy was outdated, and the biggest one is strategic missteps.

To thrive, It's crucial for business owners to continually assess their clients, competitors, and trends in other industries to stay ahead. If we fail to do this, we risk losing market share and eventually fading out of relevance like Nokia, Blackberry, Yahoo, Blockbusters among many others that lost their market share. Market research serves as a vital tool for identifying and obtaining accurate data from both primary and secondary sources. This article outlines several reasons why market research is the cornerstone of a sound business strategy.

Market research is the process of evaluating the viability of a service or product through research conducted about the market environment and directly with potential customers. It is an essential tool for any business, whether a start-up or a mature company. Business decisions are critical for success or failure, hence the need for the decisions to be data driven.?

In the past, organizations relied on historical data, the instincts of the management team, board meetings etc. to make business decisions. However, in today's increasingly competitive and changing business landscape. Businesses now more than ever need to invest in market research to obtain a "real picture" of potential outcomes, justifying decisions with data and evidence.

Data is the lifeline of any successful business strategy, without research, it is impossible to come up with a strategy that works or speaks to the business needs of your customer or market environment. Market research plays a pivotal role in shaping and refining business strategies. Data is a living asset of a business, it does not stay static but evolves and changes constantly. That is why it is crucial to integrate data analysis and market research as a critical element of your business strategy.

By systematically gathering and analyzing data about consumers, competitors, and the overall market environment, businesses can make informed decisions about effective marketing strategies, brand competitiveness, brand loyalty, available market opportunities, pricing strategy, product and service development, customer segmentation and preferences that drive growth and innovation.

How MarcTina Consultancy Helps Businesses Implement Market Research

1. We conduct market research on your behalf such as macro and micro analysis: enabling you to understand the market that you are operating in, competitor analysis to help you gain insights into market dynamics and stay ahead of competitors, customer segmentation: we help you design the right strategy to enable you to target the right audience and optimize marketing efforts. Product and service development: we help you refine your products and services based on research to meet customer needs. Brand research: we help you understand what your customers think of your brand using data.
2. Seamless Implementation: We design and execute customized market research strategies that integrate smoothly with your business operations, providing accurate data for informed decision-making. We design data analytical tools that you can use for your business to keep your data alive. We ensure that the data analytical tools are integrated into your systems and data becomes a part of your business process.
3. Integration with Business Processes: We align research findings with your operational strategies to enhance efficiency and responsiveness to market changes. We help businesses design business strategies that align with their business needs. Including marketing strategies, brand and sales growth strategies and customer relationship management tools (CRM). We also offer technology and IT tools to enhance your business efficiency and customer engagements such as CRM tools and integration of business processes.
4. Research Coverage: We conduct research across both internal and external business environment, with data coverage on macroeconomics, competitors, and consumers. We do this through implementation of predictive analysis, descriptive analysis, diagnostic analysis, and exploratory analysis, amongst other techniques.

Outcome

By conducting comprehensive market research you ensure that your business strategy aligns with your environment. Your business will be built to cope with macroeconomics demands due to being cognisant of the latest policies, capable of beating the competition through insights gained from competitor analysis, as well as providing tailored service offerings that are based precisely on consumer demands and expectation. All of which will contribute to developing a sustainable and resilient business, one capable of achieving sustainable competitive advantage, ultimately leading to growth across all key metrics of a successful business: impact, value, market share, and profitability.