Before the start of any business, a lot of thought and research has to be done. Determining the brand strategy, the type of brand awareness you want to employ, the brand logo, target customers and so on, are some of the things that entrepreneurs, including fashion entrepreneurs, need to consider before starting a business.
Entrepreneurs need to ascertain with proper research, if the product or service they are offering is what the clients need at that moment, or perhaps there’s a brand that caters for that already. All these and more, are what market research entails.
Market research is the process of determining the viability of a new service or product through research conducted directly with potential customers. It is basically the gathering of information about a particular market based on customer’s reviews and feedback.
Ways To Conduct A Market Research
Since we already established the importance of market research, how then should a fashion entrepreneur conduct a market research?
For a fashion entrepreneur, there are many ways in which market research can be carried out, each of them effective nevertheless. Some of them are;
Survey: Online surveys are widely used in every sphere of life these days. By creating a form containing specific questions using Google or other websites like Survey Monkey, an online survey can be conducted for over 100 people.
Interview: An interview is conducted face-to-face between two or more parties. Here, specific questions are asked to gain more insight based on the response of the customer.
Observation: As opposed to getting responses or answers from customers, observing how they interact with the market is another method of market research. With this, you’re able to know how they respond to the market, changes in the market and so on.
Now that we know some of the ways in which market research can be done, what should the objectives of market research be for a fashion entrepreneur?
Objectives Of Market Research For A Fashion Entrepreneur
Target Customers: When doing market research as a fashion entrepreneur, one of the important things you should strive to know, is if your target customers are in the vicinity.
For example, if a bespoke fashion brand who specializes in wears for young women does a market research and sees through it that most of the prospective customers are older than expected, then the chances of that business surviving are slim.
Financial power: What is the financial power of your intending customers? Would they be willing to shop for things in your brand, without having to worry about the prices being on the high side? This is one of the things that should be considered during a market research.
Competition: Just like in other industries, there would always be other competitors in the fashion business. So, conducting a market research would reveal, through the questions asked, if there’s a brand that offers similar products and services just like yours, or if there’s something unique about that brand that makes it the best amongst others.
Customers Needs: From a market research, customers needs can easily be identified. This would help the entrepreneurs to work that into their overall brand services, and to cater efficiently for the needs of prospective customers.
With an efficient market research, fashion entrepreneurs would be able to make informed decisions, and gain accurate information about the market.
