Swimming In the Deep End

Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 08:30am by William Quisenberry in Start-Ups

If you couldn’t swim, would you jump into a pool of water without knowing just how deep it was? Umm, I doubt it! This would be a potential death risk.

You would want a clear idea as to just how deep that water was, because if it’s too deep, you’re going to keep your butt on shore.

So if this simple idea is easily understood, why do so many young entrepreneurs jump into the deep end when it comes to creating business ventures, without having the ability to swim, and without any knowledge about just how deep the “commerce waters” are that they are diving into?

In essence these young entrepreneurs are really just jumping in, “hoping” that the waters are not too deep, and praying that they don’t drown to death and go belly up.

I’ve been in this position; I created my first venture without proper knowledge about the operation, the market for my service, my targeted demographic, or the geographic market that I was hoping to operate in.

Some research efforts can become extremely complex, and there are many large marketing research firms that make billions of dollars a year in revenue by providing in-depth marketing analysis reports for large firms.

Obviously you might not be in a position to seek professional consultations from marketing research analysts, especially as a young start-up; so like everything else you may find yourself having to wear the hat of a research analyst.

The main thing to remember is just to touch on the basics, the most important aspects of what you need to know to make a decision as to whether you should enter a particular market, how you should enter that market, and what you plan to bring to the market.

These questions are definitely awesome starting points. With the advances of the Internet, researching markets and performing analysis has never been easier, because most of the information that you need will almost always be somewhere on the “Net.”

Also remember to use large firms to your benefit. If you are planning on entering a market selling sneakers online, why not study the buying habits of Nike’s customers, Reebok and all the others.

Even though you may plan to take a totally different approach, you still may be able to pick up on some very important knowledge by studying others who are in much larger markets.

These types of reports and case studies are usually available online with many different journals, and if you’re a college student these research journals are usually free through your campus library.

Just remember when you’re on the verge of creating a new venture or even expanding your current firm, always do your background checks and research to make sure you’re making the best decisions.

One Comment

Leave a Comment