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How to do a market analysis example. Market research

This is an assessment of the market, its analysis according to several parameters. In order to draw any conclusions about the potential profitability of a project and its payback period, it is necessary to calculate:

  • Market volume (demand level).
  • Level and nature of competition.
  • Mechanisms and methods of work of competitors.
  • Market trends (growth, stability, decline).

Let's try to find approaches to independently study these parameters. Of course, in most cases, conducting a rough analysis (“on the knee”) is not enough. However, with its help you can determine whether it makes sense to work with the idea further, whether it is necessary to contact specialists in different fields - or whether it is better to look for another concept.

Determining market size

First of all, you need to understand and understand well who your clients (target audience) are. Your client is the one who pays you money.

Volume is calculated either in terms of the amount of money paid for goods and services per unit of time (per month) or in terms of the number of transactions (number of goods sold).

It is not always possible to accurately determine the size of a particular sector or solvency target audience. However, at the first stage, when it is decided to be or not to be an idea, it is important to understand at least the lower bar “no less than.” If the ceiling allows you to hope for a significant profit when capturing, for example, 10% of the market, you can continue to work with the project.

Demand research methods

The following techniques are usually used.

Method The essence Features, Notes
Customer monitoring Monitoring existing sales, determining the turnover of the most significant competitors. Tracking advertising, search query statistics, customer flow in the store, and so on. Very broad group; varies greatly across different sectors of the economy. For some areas it is quite simple to carry out (some b2b services), for retail it is more difficult (monitoring sales in a store requires time and resources. Indirect observation methods (for example, by receipt number at the end of the day) are less accurate).
Interviews with experts Simply ask questions to wholesalers, manufacturers or experts in the field. Not very high accuracy, unless the expert is engaged in research of this particular niche, and the wholesaler (manufacturer, importer) is not a monopolist.
Statistical reports and data Obtaining statistics that may be indirectly related to a specific product or service. Some studies are paid. Government statistics are usually available free of charge, but are characterized by low efficiency and accuracy. Extrapolation of data should be done with caution (for example, the number of fractures per year does not equal the number of clients of a paid clinic).
Consumer surveys Interviewing a sufficiently large number of representatives of the target audience. Relatively low accuracy: declared features economic behavior do not always coincide with real ones. Particular care is required in survey design and interpretation.

Of course, there are several more ways. However, these four are the ones that are used first. This is enough for initial marketing research.

Another indirect option is to try to estimate what competitors’ costs are (for rent, staffing, advertising, etc.). Obviously, since businesses exist, they are profitable, or at least not too far from the break-even point.

Determining the level of competition

For most niches, an express method of assessing competition using search engines. Just enter keywords that your potential buyer or customer might enter (for example, for a web studio it could be “ “). And look at the first 3-5 pages in the search results, noting:

  • Number of official websites of competitors.
  • The amount of contextual advertising (the more, the greater the competition).
  • The quality and attractiveness of competitors’ websites (the better and more modern the resource, the more expensive it is; the presence of high-quality websites in the search results means that companies are ready to invest seriously in advertising).

You can also probe your opponents’ spending on contextual advertising, using the Yandex.Direct “Budget Forecast” tool.

In addition, the following sources can be of great benefit:

  • Advertising publications.
  • Directories.
  • Publications of major thematic exhibitions.

This will allow us to identify the number of competing firms and their approximate spending on advertising; In addition, using these methods, you can determine how they position themselves (what USPs they offer to their clients).

Market consolidation assessment

Quite a complicated process. Good way identifying it - conducting a survey among the target audience - “which company providing such and such services do you trust?”

You can also try to find the most visited corporate website in the niche. This method is not yet relevant for all businesses; Internet dominance does not always mean complete success.

When identifying leaders, it makes sense to become more familiar with their methods of work. It makes sense to pretend to be a potential client and come to the “enemy” office.

Trends and Trends

This does not mean the trends that were taken into account when generating the idea, but those that are inherent in this particular market.

The approaches are universal: surveys, analysis of statistics over several years (evaluate, for example, the level of demand five years ago, three years ago and now), search for new technologies and solutions that may (or may not) change the situation.

Instructions

Develop a research concept: define goals, set tasks, develop a system of evaluation indicators.

Start by determining your business's current position in the market. Consider the choice of time to market, the location of the enterprise within the given framework, and the specific conditions for purchasing or renting premises. Take into account the size of the room, expected equipment and equipment in the analysis. May be needed warehouses, window dressing, etc.

Assess the competitive relationships you need to consider. How strong are the competitors in your chosen field of activity? What is the strategy for promoting them to the market? Is it possible to cooperate with competitors?

Collect information about potential consumers of your products. Methods of obtaining primary information about consumers include observation, experiment, personal communication, interviewing (survey). By collecting primary information, you will be able to identify specific group customers for whom your company's products and services are intended. Divide clients into groups, determine the needs of each group and how to satisfy them.

Determine the factors influencing the increase or decrease in the purchasing power of the main customer groups, this will help you describe their behavior and predict product sales.

Factors to Consider external environment: economic, political, cultural, etc. They can change the current state of the market within the next two to three years, which is very important for starting a business.

Summarize the obtained analysis results in the form of an analytical report. If necessary, include market analysis data in the business plan of the future enterprise - this will allow you to assess the risks when starting a business and outline ways to reduce them.

Sources:

  • How to Conduct Market Research for a Small Business
  • how to conduct market analysis

Do you have a developing promising business and a huge number of ideas for their implementation? Or are you just about to start? In any of these cases, you simply need to conduct high-quality and thorough marketing research.

Instructions

Find those who will be your target audience, or those who are already actively using your product and services. You need to enter into a non-disclosure agreement with these people. They should also be informed about the fairness of the decisions they make.

Give them yours new idea or product. Explain to them the scope of application of this new product. Listen and take into account their suggestions for improvement or use.

Start studying the market if at least one of the people surveyed is interested in your product. The easiest way to do this is currently to collect a summary using the Internet and search engines. This is the best way to find out how many other people and companies offer a product similar to your product.

Record all the data obtained in the form of a table. Indicate in it the addresses of service providers and their consumers. This will help you decide what kind of contingent you will have in the future, and will also identify your potential competitors.

Determine by simple calculation the number of competitors in the market, their total annual and share sales, and whether they are profitable at all, taking into account various costs.

Rate your product. Pay enough attention to this point. During the calculations, all costs for the production of goods or services, payments for, any additional expenses(telephone, gasoline, electricity) and force majeure situations. The resulting amount is divided by the number of expected products.

In case of working through retail network contact companies that have been working in this type of business for a long time. Many of these giants will be happy to listen to your proposal and, perhaps, share it, which will significantly reduce your costs.

Discuss future sales with store owners if this is your plan to sell the product this way. Let you already have a list of potential clients at this stage.

Review your pricing policy again to make sure that your product will be purchased at the prices you specified. Having minimized all risks and weighed the pros and cons, proceed to implement your idea.

Video on the topic

Market research is the most common type of marketing research. Market research allows you to make effective decisions related to choosing a market segment and developing a marketing strategy. Without this, it is impossible to imagine long-term planning and forecasting of the company's activities. At the same time, you yourself can choose research methods, in accordance with the goals of market research and your capabilities.

Instructions

Select a market research object. These may be market developments and structures, availability and level market competition, the current environment, as well as economic, demographic, environmental and others, which to varying degrees can affect the dynamics of processes occurring in the market.

Choose the method you will use for market research. The effectiveness of a particular method primarily depends on the type of study. The collection of necessary data at the initial stage of market research is carried out using such methods as surveys and experiments.

When using the observation method, use real or artificially created conditions (situations). Observation provides valuable information about consumer behavior regardless of the consent of the object of observation. The objectivity of the observation method is high, but such a method, as a rule, requires serious costs.

Having chosen a survey as a market research method, determine what type of survey it will be: oral, telephone (), written (questionnaires, questionnaires). A carefully prepared and competently conducted survey allows you to obtain fairly complete and objective information about consumer opinions.

When conducting an experiment, create pre-planned and controlled conditions in which the factors you select can be varied. An experiment allows you to monitor the influence of factors on their dependent variables. The experiment can be carried out both in field and laboratory conditions.

Move on to the next stage of market research. From open sources, obtain information on such market parameters as its capacity, share, growth parameters, competitor activity, demand for the products offered. It will be important to find out during the research the structure of the industry, sales channels and the possibilities of their expansion.

According to the results comprehensive research market, make a choice of target markets, forecast their development taking into account the long-term perspective. Also determine the most effective methods maintaining a policy towards competitors and the possibility of changing activities to enter new markets.

Video on the topic

Sources:

  • How to Conduct Market Research for Small Businesses in 2019

Often, business owners do not know how to build a marketing policy to promote their goods and services. But potential clients do not appear from the air, they need to be attracted and interested. In addition, it is important not to just start building marketing activities, and correctly ensure its further effectiveness. It is also necessary to avoid important mistakes that nullify all efforts and scare away customers.

We have one service that I really enjoy doing. I feel like I'm starring in a spy movie, gathering secret information to complete a top-secret mission.

Since we always work as a team, my colleagues help me. I imagine them as assistants who provide me with valuable information.

And thanks to which I will collect information bit by bit, summarize it and save... no, not the world, but our client (or customer, if we talk in the language of films). What kind of service is this where fantasy plays like this? Meet me. This is marketing analysis.

Wait, colleague

But this is an analysis of data based on information that was collected as a result of various marketing research to carry out tasks (the same 4P) with the aim of summarizing, systematizing and changing them.

How difficult... I'll go

What? Really! Let's just. Smart pages you can read from Wikipedia and abstracts on other sites, here let’s express ourselves in simple language and clear sentences. And even better with specific examples.

What is marketing analysis as we understand it or what do we do? Here are a couple of examples of work we have completed:

Example 1. The client has some land (7 hectares is not a lot :)) and he wants to build a camp site on it. He contacts us with the following requests:

  1. What kind of camp site to build (a concept is needed)?
  2. What kind of marketing should be used to promote it?
  3. What investments are needed?
  4. How and will this whole venture pay off?

Example 2. The client has a company that sells woodworking equipment in one region and has a great desire to expand not even beyond the region, but throughout Russia.

You just need to understand which product to go out with first (quite a wide range), what actions to take and what budget is needed for this.

Example 3. The client has his own pretty successful business, but he wants to open a second, radically different direction.

There are definite plans to open a small plant (I won’t reveal the niche). Of course, this is a little more complicated and the queries are as follows:

  1. Development and ;
  2. Development of an advertising concept with detailed elaboration;
  3. Detailed study of business and financial plans(we certainly don’t specialize in this, but we have partners);
  4. Well, of course, prepare all the documents for the bank (few people now have 100 million rubles or more).

Such examples are far from the only ones; there is experience in developing hostels, niches in the information business, launching a new product on the market, franchises, etc.

I think my analogy with movie spies is now clear. Business plans with numbers are one thing, but researching the client’s competitors, and even across the entire region or country, is a completely different story.

But this is in our understanding. And if we return to the classical concept, then marketing analysis is necessary when:

  • Market research;
  • Market trends;
  • Studying demand and factors that influence it;
  • Studying prices and pricing;
  • Studying competitors (especially strong or fast-growing ones) and competitiveness;
  • Studying your company (its strengths and weaknesses);
  • And a dozen more subtasks.

A lot of scary words

This is the phrase that comes to mind when I start reading the description of what needs to be done to conduct a marketing analysis:

  1. Conducting marketing research;
  2. Collection, processing and synthesis of data obtained as a result of research;
  3. Selection of key points from processed data;
  4. Conceptualization (Lord, what a terrible word!) - processing of key points and consideration in the right way;
  5. Extrapolation (who comes up with them!) - determining how this data will play out in the long term;
  6. Making conclusions.

I translate into human Russian, plus I immediately explain what needs to be done step by step in order to conduct a more or less human marketing analysis. Yes, it’s generalized, but it’s understandable.

  1. Marketing market analysis. Collect all the market information you can find and get your hands on.

    Thanks to the Internet, you have almost all the information in the world. So search, it's not difficult.

    For example, I personally found all the current statistics I needed on accommodation in hotels/hostels/hotels in the city I needed.

    By the way, there was a rather interesting scandal recently. They decided to nominate a European student Nobel Prize, thanks to the results of the research he did.

    The scandal is that it is based on medical reports, which were quite confidential, but leaked to the Internet.

  2. Marketing analysis of the company/organization/company. You study the entire organization from the inside. All, that means all!

    Marketing, sales, sales, production. Everything that happens within the company, all business processes.

    And then suddenly it happens that marketing you are in production company set it up, but forget about production and orders, instead of the required 3 days, will be completed in 10-14.

  3. Marketing analysis of competitors. Here! This is the most important thing for any manager and owner. Or rather, the most pleasant thing. Conduct an analysis of competitors and find out what they are better at in some way.

    Guys, let's do this, if we are to be better than our competitors, it will be in everything. This is why you study your competitors.

    All their weak and strengths. At the same time, check your company’s competitiveness.

  4. Marketing analysis of the product. You need to determine how competitive and viable your product (in this case, this word includes both goods and services) will be when entering the market.

    If an analysis of an organization is necessary, an analysis of competitors is interesting, then an analysis of a product is what the whole analysis is for, so study it in detail and consider all possible options.

  5. Marketing analysis of the project. Everything here is simple and clear. You need to estimate and calculate how viable the entire project is in the long term (1-3-5-10 years) and whether it is worth starting.

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Marketing analysis in practice

In general, theory, theory and nothing else. But we need practice. Let's imagine that you decide to do a marketing audit yourself, then here is a list of questions and services that will help you with this.

Market analysis

In short, find all the information you can about the market (supply and demand). If you want to consider what exactly, then here is an article to help you, which we already wrote earlier -. In addition, these services will help you:

  • Federal State Statistics Service - thanks to this service you can find extremely interesting and, surprisingly, relevant information;
  • Market volume assessment is generally a service for checking the counterparty, but when correct setting and, as they say, “if you dig deeper,” you can pull out interesting data.

    For example, estimated sales in a certain niche (data taken from financial reports companies). I highly recommend it.

Company analysis

  1. First impression of the company;
  2. First contact;
  3. Sales algorithm;
  4. Marketing;
  5. Competence of employees and owner.

Now attention!

The first 2 points should not be checked and fulfilled by the business owner or manager. This is prohibited. This must be a completely independent person who will then tell you the whole truth.

It doesn’t sound very pleasant, but if you hire a professional into your company, he will tell you a lot of new and interesting things about the company itself and your employees.

Competitor analysis

As I already wrote, this is the favorite pastime of most entrepreneurs, who play spies in this block.


I'm watching...
  1. You need to identify your main competitors. At least 3-5, and not one or two, as is commonly believed;
  2. Find all the information about them on the Internet. In particular, look and conduct detailed, social networks, current location;
  3. Send them a secret shopper. If you can’t go, then send a friend.

    But you better hire professional company with audio recordings and reports (of course, you need to prepare them in advance and independently);

  4. Collect all advertising information and analyze them. On the Internet, offline (billboards, newspapers, magazines);
  5. Based on this information, make a list of your competitors' weaknesses and strengths.

We consider cross-country ability

Come in the morning and make an inexpensive purchase from him, and in the evening you make a second purchase from him. The trick is that if you have a cash register, you receive a check with a number.

By calculating the difference between checks (=number of clients per day) and multiplying it by the average check and the number of days in a month, you can calculate the competitor’s approximate turnover.

Relevant for catering and retail stores(especially with inexpensive products).

Product Analysis

This is where you have to work hard. To do this, first of all, you must know the answers to the following questions:

  1. Who's yours?
  2. Is there a detailed one?
  3. Was it carried out?
  4. Then what kind do they have? weak sides, which we can take for ourselves, strengthen them and rise due to this?
  5. What will be our positioning? What about the USP?
  6. Is the marketing thought out and worked out?
  7. Have sales channels been thought out?

And dozens of similar questions that you need to answer. Do you think it's not important? Well, then I congratulate you!

You plan to do “marketing, not product marketing.” This is the trap that many entrepreneurs starting a business fall into. new project or inventing their own product. I wrote in detail about this and what it threatens in the article.

2.5.1. Section structure and content

Market research and analysis- one of the most important stages in the preparation of business plans, which should provide answers to the questions: who, why and in what quantities buys or will buy the company’s Products.

Domestic and Foreign experience indicates that poor market knowledge is one of the main reasons for the failure of many commercial projects. The main tasks of the enterprise, solved in this section of the business plan, include determining the demand and capacity of each specific market for each type of goods (services). These indicators will characterize the possible sales volumes of goods (services). Both the success of the enterprise in the market and the time during which it can maintain its position in it will depend on how thoroughly the level and structure of demand and trends in its change are studied and determined.

Since the collection, processing and analysis of market information is a rather complex process, it is advisable to involve specialized organizations in conducting the research, which may require significant costs, which in most cases are justified.

The business plan should reflect the following areas of comprehensive market research:

- determination of market type - when researching a market, it is necessary, first of all, to determine the type of market for each product or service. In the process of selecting a suitable market for business activity and determining the characteristics of work on it, business planning should be based on the classification of markets. When determining the type of market, you should also give its characteristics, i.e. indicate the stage of market development (trend of growth or decline), historical and economic reasons for the existence of the market, territorial location of the market (region and population concentration), market restrictions (economic, legal, etc.), etc.

- determination of market structure - when analyzing the sales market, its structure is studied, i.e. The operation of market segmentation is carried out - dividing the total population of consumers into certain groups (segments), which are characterized by common needs, requirements for the product and motives for its purchase. The success of an enterprise in competition for the market largely depends on how well the market segment is chosen. Practical use Segmentation techniques involve finding the optimal balance between the processes of standardization and product differentiation. The business plan indicates the main consumers and the principles of their segmentation, it is noted what attracts a typical buyer of a given segment, and the circle of the most attractive segments is determined.


- assessment of market conditions - the purpose of any market research is to assess the existing market conditions and to develop a forecast for market development. At this stage, the number of buyers in each of the selected segments is assessed and demand is measured, market capacity is determined and the degree of demand satisfaction is determined. Based on these data, the most profitable segments for the enterprise - target markets - are selected.

- Selection of target segments - based on market conditions assessment data, the most profitable segments for the enterprise are selected. A segment in which approximately 20% of the buyers of a given market are located, purchasing 80% of the goods offered by the enterprise, can be considered promising. Here the position of the enterprise in the market is examined. For the first year of sales, this paragraph indicates:

The main consumers of the product, data is provided on orders for the product, contracts, written obligations available to the enterprise;

Potential consumers who have already expressed interest in the product;

Potential consumers who have not yet expressed interest in the product; explains how the enterprise intends to win them over.

- market positioning - the business plan describes the actions to bring the product to the market and ensure its competitive position in the segment, i.e. on the existence of market positioning.

Market positioning can go in one of the selected directions:

Filling the identified niche in the market;

Occupying a position close to that of one of the competitors, i.e.
competitive positioning.

- sales forecast - one of the main indicators associated with the forecast of market development is the forecast of volumes by month (or by quarter), the second year - by quarter (or by half-year), subsequent years - for the year as a whole.

2.5.2. Market Research Methodology

Market research is a systematic and methodological, ongoing or random search for the market or effective behavior in it. Depending on the objectives of business planning, research can be quantitative or qualitative. The purpose of quantitative research is to establish the numerical value of the market assessment and its main characteristics. The purpose of qualitative market research is to identify specific motives for certain behavior in the market.

Market Research Design- this is the design and construction of the research process, the development of its model, i.e. Research design can be considered as a project for organizing and conducting market research.

2.5.3. Market classification

The market research process begins with determining its type for each product or service. In this case, in the business planning process, you can rely on the following approaches to classifying markets:

1) by area social production :

Market of goods material production(raw materials, food, machinery, equipment);

Market for goods of spiritual production (achievements of science,
technologies, works of art, books).

2) by nature of end use:

Market for industrial goods;

Consumer goods market.

3) by period of use:

Durable goods market;

Non-durable goods market;

Market for disposable goods.

4) by territorial coverage:

World;

Interior;

Regional.

5) according to the ratio of sellers and buyers:

Free competition market;

Market monopolistic competition;

Oligopolistic market;

A pure monopoly market is one seller with a product that has no analogue or substitute, which allows the manufacturer to dictate terms to consumers.

6) by sales volume:

The main market where the bulk of the company's goods and services are sold;

Additional (auxiliary) market, which the company enters with a small part of goods (services);

Selective (selective) market, which is selected for
determining opportunities for selling new goods (services), i.e. for trial sales.

2.5.4. Market structure

The first question that must be answered during market research is who is the consumer of the Company's products and who may become one in the future. To do this, it is necessary to determine the market structure.

A means, a method of market differentiation based on studying and taking into account the individual needs of each group of buyers, is segmentation.

Market segmentation is the process of dividing, dividing the market into homogeneous (homogeneous) groups of buyers, each of which may require certain products and marketing mixes. Using segmentation, the following business planning goals are achieved:

Best satisfaction of people's needs and requirements, preparation of goods according to the desires and preferences of the buyer;

Increasing the competitiveness of both the product and its manufacturer, strengthening competitive advantages;

Evading competition by moving into an untapped market segment;

Linking the company’s scientific and technical policy with requests clearly
identified consumer populations;

Orientation of the company's work towards a specific consumer.

Currently, the following segmentation features are used to divide the consumer population:

Based on socio-demographic parameters: nationality, religion, age, gender, marital status, education, cultural traditions, character labor activity etc.;

Economic parameters: per capita income and its structure, property value, amount of savings, level of housing provision, etc.;

Geographical characteristics: economic and political zoning, population size, population density, natural and climatic zone, etc.;

The results of segmentation are used to select a segment (or several segments) acceptable for the enterprise’s products, determine possible objects of demand and position the product.

2.5.5 Market assessment

Market conditions are the state of the market, characterized by the relationship between demand and supply of goods (services).

Demand represents an effective need. It is studied at various levels. You can determine the demand: for specific types goods; for the goods of this company; for goods of this industry; the entire domestic market; regionally.

Market demand is functional in nature. It is influenced by many factors. Among them: demographic, general economic, socio-cultural, psychological, as well as various activities carried out under the marketing program.

Volume of demand- this is the quantity of goods that the buyer is willing to purchase under given conditions within a certain period of time. If at least one of these factors changes, the volume of demand for this product will also change.

Demand for a company's product acts as a certain share of total market demand. It is also functional in nature. In addition to the factors that determine the amount of total demand, it is influenced by factors that influence the share of the company's goods in total sales in a given market.

The task of determining demand is quite difficult. It is solved by using the market research methods described above.

Determination of future demand is carried out using forecasts, through the use of various forecasting methods, taking into account existing survey trends, the effects of various factors in the future and expected marketing efforts.

The determination of the price elasticity coefficient of demand complements the demand forecasting procedure.

2.5.6. Selection of target markets

The target market is the most attractive market segment for the company at the moment, mastering which becomes its main task. It must be sufficiently capacious, have prospects for development, free or relatively free from competitors, and be characterized by some unsatisfactory demand.

The task of choice is always difficult. The selection of target markets is carried out by taking into account segmentation criteria, as well as data from assessing market conditions.

Segmentation criteria- this is an indicator of how correctly the company has chosen a particular target market for its activities. Let us list the segmentation criteria most commonly used in business planning practice.

Quantitative boundaries- these include the potential capacity of the segment, i.e. answers to questions about how many products and at what cost can be sold on it, to how many actual and potential consumers, what is the area of ​​the segment, what resources will need to be used to work in this segment.

Segment availability- is it possible to obtain channels for distribution and sales of products, is it necessary to reorient our own sales network, what is the situation with the availability of warehouses, stores, and cargo processing points.

Information saturation of the segment- is it possible to obtain the necessary market information to create a data bank for the segment, are there closed zones in the segment.

Segment materiality- determining the strength of a selected group of consumers, whether it is falling apart, whether its needs in relation to the product being produced are stable; otherwise, you may end up in a segment where competitors have a strong position, or offer a product with unclear targeting characteristics that will not be recognized by consumers.

Profitability, segment profitability - as a rule, the assessment is carried out based on standard indicators: profit margin, return on invested capital, dividends per share, increase in the total profit of the enterprise. Sometimes large enterprise guided by the prestige of this segment and the goodwill of public opinion.

Protection from competition - it is important to correctly weigh your own chances of success in this segment, objectively assessing the capabilities of competitive firms.

2.5.7. Market positioning

Market positioning is a technology for determining the position of a product in individual market segments.

Positioning goal- research of existing or emerging opinions, analysis of assessments of customers or their group regarding product parameters in order to optimize them in accordance with the wishes and requirements of consumers and, accordingly, create through marketing activities such a product position that will provide the product with specific advantages in this segment of the target market.

Readers often ask me the question: how much does it cost to develop a competent business plan? And, often, having learned the size of the amount (about 50-120 thousand rubles), they abandon the idea of ​​ordering the creation of a custom document, preferring either to independently outline for themselves the milestones of their future actions in organizing a business, or to act according to the situation, not only without having a clear idea about what market analysis is, but even what exactly they will do in a week, a month, a year.

The amount for many aspiring entrepreneurs, especially now, when economic forecasts for 2016 are very disappointing, really turns out to be unaffordable. It is for these categories of businessmen that I decided to create a series of articles on how you can write a business plan yourself.

Continuing to expand on the topic of writing a business plan, which was started in these articles: “How to write the title page of a business plan”, “Description of a company in a business plan”, “Description of services and products in a business plan”, I present to the attention of readers the following topic – “Market analysis in a business plan.” You can view the full structure of the document at this link.

What is this section about?

It often happens that, having been inspired by the idea of ​​​​creating a business, many novice businessmen simply have no idea about the niche of the business world in which they are trying to occupy a place. While the study of the target consumer market, analysis of its directions, conditions for entering this market for a new company, the situation in general, development trends, and many other factors influencing the successful activities of the company require careful study.

Of course for professional marketer This part of creating a business plan will not cause any particular difficulties, but what should a person do who has a vague idea about the very specifics of the business? Right! Look for the necessary materials yourself, and try to put together an overall picture from what you find. Therefore, I decided to give in the article as many illustrative examples as possible found in real life, for a better understanding of the issue.

Market description

In this subsection, you need to provide as much current information as possible about the situation in the market in which you are going to work, show what the main trends are present in this industry, what is the picture of its development in the short and long term.

If a business plan is being prepared to obtain investment in credit organizations or from individuals, then you need to explain to your potential investors your ultimate goals for organizing a company, not only to show the scale of the market that you are going to conquer (this could be a separate region, a country as a whole, or interaction with foreign partners), but also in the following sections to justify the reality of your plans. If you are writing a document for personal use, such a sales market analysis will help you see the real picture of the market and assess your strengths and capabilities in implementing your plans.

It is necessary to analyze the state of the market today, show price dynamics over the past few years (usually a 5-year period), and provide the opinion of authoritative, recognized experts on the possibility of development in this area. Describe in detail how your product or service will fit into the overall market, what impact future changes in this market will have on your business, and what measures will be taken in this regard to maintain the stable operation of the company.

Writing example

The ____ market for the production of goods ____ and/or the provision of services ____ is currently one of the most actively developing and most promising industries working in this direction. At the end of ____ year, the market volume amounted to ____ rubles, which is an increase of ____% compared to the previous year. Detailed price dynamics on the market over the past 5 years are presented in Table No._ Appendix No._.

Research and analysis of the sales market conducted by marketing companies, independent analytical centers, reflected in the reports of companies already operating in this area, enterprises conducting similar activities, show that in the next __ years a significant increase in the existing market by __% is predicted. According to moderate estimates of experts, the minimum volume of the industry will be ____ rubles.

How detailed should you write about the state of the market? After all, such a study can take hundreds of typewritten pages! Here you need to take into account that the scope of such analysis directly depends on the level of your future enterprise, its size and expected prospects.

However, even if your entrepreneurial activity will cover only one small urban area, such a large-scale assessment of the industry will give significant “weight” to your business plan in the eyes of investors, show them the seriousness of your intentions, and allow them to see the prospects for the development of your company, which can, by the way, have a positive effect on the possibility of increasing investments , or further cooperation in this regard.

But there is nothing to worry about if, when planning a business that does not require substantial financial “infusions”, or if it is simply impossible to find accurate and detailed data on the industry in question (this could be know-how, or a highly specialized area), a thorough analysis will not be carried out. Sometimes you can get by with your own “calculations”, personal assessment of the market and forecast for the future. Of course, supported by some kind of logical justification.

Writing example

Based on the fact that the product/service offered by the Company has been offered on the market relatively recently (no more than ___ years), and the sales market is at the stage of formation, it is very difficult to estimate its real growth volumes for the next ___ years. Although, today it can be argued that this industry is expecting a rapid rise.

This fact is confirmed by the annual increase in sales by __%, and the number of goods produced and sold annually by __ units. You can also note the increased attention to this industry large companies, such as ____, ____, which in turn may indicate that the prospects for market development are very high.

Be sure to consider the specific features of your chosen business sector - what are the conditions for entering this market, is there a seasonality factor, you can give examples of initiatives of other companies in this area. Disclose the specific objectives of your business choice, if any. The most important thing is when determining your “place” in the future market segment, your share in total sales, production, etc. – objectivity. Be realistic, and in your business plan describe real facts, and not your dreams. Provide as often as possible expert assessments and results of multilateral studies.

Research of consumers of the offered products

Researching the target audience for whose consumption your product is intended is one of the most important steps in drawing up a business plan. First of all, you need to indicate for which market your product is intended - consumer (that is, for final consumption after purchase), or industrial (for further use in production or resale).

Exit to consumer market implies a study of the target audience of clients, their social category, gender, age, marital status, level of education, income level, place of residence, nature of work, passion, purchasing behavior, and many other factors.

Writing example

The target audience of consumers of the product produced by the Company is women and men aged from __ to __ years, married/unmarried, with/without children, with secondary/higher education, with an income level of __ to __ rubles per month/year. , full-time/part-time employed, unemployed/retired/students living in cities with a population of ____ people/rural settlements/, who are interested in ____.

Describe the behavior of buyers when purchasing your products, indicate what exactly they are guided by when choosing a product/service, if not specifically your product, then similar in characteristics. If you have information about conducting marketing research in this area, testing on specially selected groups of people, include them in your analysis. Here you can also add customer reviews about the product offered, or similar products/services.

Methods of promoting products on the market

Actually, everything here is clear from the subtitle. In this section, you should show the ways in which you will market your product. One of the points that you should pay close attention to is the company's pricing strategy. First of all, it is the cost of the proposed product that affects the level of its sales, and, accordingly, the amount of profit.

Moreover, the business plan must contain all calculations for setting the price of a product, an analysis of prices for similar products from competitors, the possibility of price fluctuations upward or downward, and the reasons for the occurrence of such situations.

Writing example

When setting prices for products, the following were taken into account: the cost of production of one unit, the costs of moving along the logistics chain, and the cost of similar goods from competitors.

By establishing the average market price for the products sold, the company will reach the planned profit volume in __ days/months/years. But since our product has additional unique parameters (list), it became possible to set a price per unit of product that is __% higher than the average price on the market.

The results of a survey among potential buyers showed that there is a fairly high demand for such a product, and the majority consider the proposed price acceptable and are ready to purchase the product at that price.

If you already have a price list for the products you offer, be sure to attach it to your business plan. Use in the description the most effective existing sales scheme - offering a product or service:

  • To the right people - your target audience
  • At the right time - based on the availability of the same target audience
  • In the right place - based on the location of the target audience
  • In the required quantity
  • At a price that is acceptable to you and to them
  • At the lowest possible cost to you

Except pricing policy indicate the tools with which you are going to make your product known to consumers, its distribution scheme, ways to stimulate sales, the possibility of service, warranty, and post-warranty service, the possibility of feedback from customers.

In addition to describing these methods, justify their effectiveness in relation to the products offered, why you chose them and not any others, consider the use of “traditional” advertising in the media, the Internet, the possibility of holding various promotions, establishing discounts, taking part in exhibitions, etc. d.

Competitor analysis

Researching the activities of competitors operating in the same industry or related fields is an essential part of any business plan. The business plan should reflect the analysis of competitors in as detailed and clear a manner as possible. Divide your competitors into direct and indirect. Indicate their position in this market segment, their share in the overall sales picture, income level, advertising methods, equipment and technologies used, human resources - in general, everything that can be found out.

Analysis of the sales market and competitors, analysis of the company’s position in the market should reflect all the strengths and weaknesses of competitors in order to determine ways to effectively combat them. In the same section, indicate your advantages in comparison with competitors in the sales market, justify why the consumer will choose your product.