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Now we get down to the nitty gritty. Having come up with an idea that works for you—financially, creatively, emotionally, intellectually—the next step is to figure out what it will actually cost to start that business, and what sort of sales you will need to achieve to sustain it.
ASSUMPTIONS
Figuring out your startup costs and potential […]

After conducting all of this research, sit down, sift through it, and analyze the data. You need to get a clear idea about the strengths and weaknesses of your plan. Either you will conclude that there indeed is a market for your proposed business, or there is not. If not, then go back to the […]

Telephone research is a fairly inexpensive method, costing about onethird less than personal interviews. Here you would hire a telemarketing firm to conduct a survey of a random sample of respondents. The costs associated with this method include the fee for the telemarketer, phone charges, preparation of the questionnaire, and the analysis of the results.
Here […]

Find a good MBA program in your area and find out whether it participates in the Small Business Institute program, run by 250 MBA programs nationwide that assigns grad students to intern-type projects like market research. For a nominal fee, or free, you may get a great team to do some quality research for you. […]

In the rush of advance technology, such as Web 2.0, business owners often forget about one-to-one, basic e-mail marketing tools. That’s a shame, because when I read Permission Marketing by Seth Godin, I found out how e-mail play such an important role in every level of permission given by the online customer. E-mail tools and […]

While reading is great, nothing beats actually talking with people associated with your potential business. There are two groups of people you need to meet and interview:
1. Potential customers. Although finding possible customers for your potential business is not the easiest task in the world, it must be done. You need to find and meet […]

Many resources are available to help you track demographic data, learn about your intended industry, uncover vital info about your potential competition, see whether there is a market for your pro-posed business, and generally plot your course. Here are your best bets.

Trade Associations
Every industry has a trade association connected to it and these groups have […]

Customers nowadays have just too many choices! It can be called ‘customer empowerment’ if you like, but many times it’s really time consuming on the customer part just to look at all the options and come up with the buying decision. This happened to me when I was looking for a binocular for bird watching. […]

This may be the most important chapter in the whole book. Why? Because everything else, from selecting the right business and marketing it to growing and even eventually selling it hinge on having an accurate understanding of your market. Get this foundation piece wrong and a lot more will go wrong, but get it right […]

Aside from poring over the books, your due diligence will take you on a tour of the actual premises. Peek into the nooks and crannies. By this time you should be aware of both the positives and negatives of the business, and you should especially get your questions about the problems answered. Remember that no […]