launch Archives - High Performance Coach Cindy Donaldson

Market Research 101

Leave a Comment / Entrepreneur, Featured, Marketing, Must Read Blogs, Uncategorized / By Cindy Donaldson / May 31, 2018 / business idea, Cindy Donaldson, deliverables, feedback, launch, market research, marketing, new business, product, red barn consulting, rpice, scale, service, Target Client Profile

Just because YOU think your business idea, product or service is brilliant and worth a gazillion dollars doesn’t mean the rest of the world will. The sad truth it, something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it. Ask any Real Estate agent – they deal with this on a daily basis.

When it comes to launching a new business or a new product you have to test it. That means market research. How that is done will vary dependent on your product or service. If you’ve just developed the latest greatest ice cream, then you better hit the streets and give away a lot of it, ask for feedback. Rinse and Repeat. Next you need to do tastings in stores, farmers markets, flea markets anywhere you can get in front of your target audience. Get feedback. Rinse and repeat. If you have a target price in mind – ask the people who liked your fabulous treat if they would be willing to pay that price. If the stars align – you are ready.

Say you have a service – like what we do here at Red Barn. We are a business and marketing consulting firm. When we decide to tap into a new market or launch a new program we do a crap load of market research. We will do workshops, bring in beta clients, write articles, talk to people – all the while collecting valuable data. Just like the ice cream we are not only looking for the good feedback, we want to hear the negative. We want to know how we can improve.

Next you really need to understand your market – how large is your potential market base? Who is your ideal client? If you need 1000 customers to break even yet in your research you find you only have 2 that would be potential clients, well – Houston we have a problem.

Here’s the process we go through

Identify our Target Client Profile. We are very specific on the socio and psycho demographics of the people, business etc. I want to know every detail – do they like dogs, do they live in the US, what is their income, do they travel, what is their age, did they go to college…the more details the better
Crystal Clear on our Deliverables. Based on our market research we hone down on exactly what the customer WANTS and how they want it delivered. So what does their customer experience and journey look like.
We make sure we are profitable. Giving a good deal isn’t worth it, if you are losing money. We may offer extra perks or even slight discounts to our early adopters, but our cost…is our cost. We spend a lot of time ensuring that we understand our COGS and our time. If we aren’t in a margin that works, then the project doesn’t fly.
We want to spend time with our early adopters to ensure things are going smooth and we scale slowly. The worst thing any company can do is scale to fast, and get into a situation where you can’t deliver what you promise.

Morale of the story: Do the research before the launch. This goes for launching a new business or a new product. The process is essentially the same. If you don’t, you’ll end up with the proverbial egg on your face.

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Entrepreneurs need Alfred

[NEWSFLASH] Not all Entrepreneurs make great CEOs and not all CEOs are great Entrepreneurs. People confuse the two titles a lot because in the small business and even in the middle market world the CEO and the Entrepreneur (Founder) are one in the same – but it’s a tricky and often tumultuous road.In fact, most Entrepreneurs don’t make great CEO’s unless they have a dynamic #2 working side by side with them. Alfred (CEO) to their Batman (Entrepreneur).

Here’s why: Most Entrepreneurs are visionaries, big picture, quick thinkers and are often shiny object people with a huge instant gratification trigger that leads to easy boredom. Entrepreneurs lead by vision and inspiration.

Take me, I’m a classic entrepreneur (right now I’m also the CEO but thank GOD I’ve got my version of an Alfred in Jenn). I love launching new businesses. It’s the thrill of it all. I love the plotting and planning, the dream of what could be and the launch. After about a year in, it becomes a rote process and I get bored and I want to build something new. Fortunate for me Red Barn Consulting allows me to do a TON of creative things and launch programs within the company. I’m no dummy – I’ve learned how to control my launch impulses so I can give my company time to mature, and I have a #2.

Effective CEO’s are also visionaries and big picture, quick thinkers BUT they have staying power and lead by inspiration AND process. The process part is HUGE. They are leaders with acute management skills. They can see the operational process mapped out in their brain and know how to put the right people in the right seats, protect the bottom line, and strategically take the company to the next level. Most CEO’s are more risk averse than entrepreneurs – they need to be.

Although I’m very good at mapping operational processes out for my clients and even for Red Barn, I’m one of the first offenders at not following the process. Just ask Jenn, she will tell you. Entrepreneurs aren’t the easiest to work for. We tend to get hyper focused on something and won’t let it go until we get what we want – strength and weakness btw. We also have a hard time with minute details, finishing tasks that bore us… the list goes on, but you can see where I’m going. Without a powerful #2, your business becomes a #hotmess quickly. Been there, done that.

Great CEO’s are deep thinkers, are fine with minute details and can stick it out for the long haul. Jenn is classic CEO material, I’m classic wild and wooly Entrepreneur. Neither one trumps the other, because both are needed for a business to launch, scale, and succeed.

If you are new to the entrepreneur world, and you relate more to me than Jenn, realize early on that you will need someone to run the ship. Find your Alfred.