Online Business L(a)unch™ > Business idea: Know Your Customer

Know Your target market

Your business cannot survive without customers, and you must know who they are, how they think and what they want - this is the key to successful business.

You need to reach out to your potential customers and find out what they are thinking about,  and  what their interests are so that you can address these needs/wants. You need to know which features are important to these people and which are not. You need to know what price would customers be willing to pay, and why.

You need to find out what needs and/or wants your prospect customers have that is not currently being met. What problems do they have? Can  you develop any product to solve these problems?

The only way to find all this out is to ask the right questions! Start with making a list of things you want to know, questions you need to find answer for. Remember, that goal of these questions is to gain intimate knowledge of your customers: you definitely want to know exactly what they are thinking and feeling, and why, don’t you?

Now you need to find the best way to ask your questions. You could use face to face or telephone interviews; Internet surveys or to participate in discussion or 'focus' boards; check out related newsgroups and chat rooms.

The least expensive yet very effective option is participating in discuss boards and business forums where you can find your target marked and learn about their interests, understand their needs and wants.

Google Groups, MSN Groups or Yahoo Groups can help you to find discussion boards and newsgroups related to your area of interests.

If you can stop and ask people on the street or at the mall, you have another option. But obviously the most effective one is posting a questionnaire on the Internet: this technique can generate results very quickly, and it  is much easier than you think!  Start creating your FREE online surveys and questionnaires with FreeOnlineSurveys.com.

Use your existing customer database (if you have one) or rent targeted e-mail list from the list broker to send your questionnaire by e-mail, and start generating the results.

Posting your questionnaire on related forums and message boards could be a very good idea. But don't just drop your survey and leave - become a contributing member first!  Most likely you will only get a feedback if  you actively participate in discussions, and members of the forum know you.

Some of the message boards and forums have a very strict rules. Be sure to contact moderator and ask if  posting a survey  is appropriate.

Next Step: Develop Your Product