conducting market research

jon1981

hi,

i have come across a product that i believe could be successful in Ireland but in order to prove this i need to carry out some element of market research. The simple question i have is how do i conduct market research/testing without giving away the actualy product or idea , its such a simple idea that it would be hard to do this without people straight away guessing what the product is.

thanks
Jon

nasceiri

jon1981 wrote: »

hi,

i have come across a product that i believe could be successful in Ireland but in order to prove this i need to carry out some element of market research. The simple question i have is how do i conduct market research/testing without giving away the actualy product or idea , its such a simple idea that it would be hard to do this without people straight away guessing what the product is.

thanks
Jon

You could always try Non Disclosure Agreements, get the people to sign up etc.

antoinolachtnai

Anyone who signs a non-disclosure agreement for a market research meeting is mad.

You might be able to find out more about the market without revealing anything. For example, if you sell a digerydoo for people who use their mobiles in the car, you will probably be able to find or buy research which will tell you how many people do this, and what sort of people (age, SE group etc.) they are.

You will have to tell people what you propose to sell to them in order to find out whether they think it is any good or not.

random.stranger

Hi Jon,

A couple of ideas, I'm not sure how relevent they are.

Maybe you could analyse the number of web searches by Irish people to get a feeling for demand (I'm assuming Irish people are aware of this product's existance)?

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

Also, if the product is selling well in the UK, I would expect that to be a good marker of how well the product is likely to sell here.

breffnij

Hi john,

Chances are if your worried your idea will ne nicked in the market research phase you'll struggle to get it off hte ground full stop. Most businesses will attempt to secure the product/ idea in some way wither through a patent or distribution licence if already being sold elsewhere. I recommend you examine this if that worried about your idea being taken. Remember, if a Joe Soap off the street could do it easily, imagine what your competition can do!!

Best of luck though, we need more people thinking outside the box and trying to start something new! :cool:

tedshredsonfire

Jon can you test market the product on some customers to get an idea? This thing of people stealing others ideas always comes up on business forums and no one has ever come on and said yes this happened to me. I have literally 100s of ideas that could make money but don't have the time and resources to see if they will.

Just try the product out by selling samples to people that don't know you and have no other reason to buy the product other than they want it. That should tell you more about its potential and the possible price points. It may also give you testimonials.