Tips for Conducting a Market Opportunity Analysis

You think you see an opportunity but you are not certain whether you should seize it – what if it turns out to be a major failure and you lose what you invested? Is your business structure ready for expansion, is introducing new products a good idea?

All new endeavors come with a dosage of risk but in order to make a decision that will not be detrimental for your business, you need to carefully analyze this new opportunity that is presenting itself before you proceed further. With that in mind, here are a few tips on how to go about analyzing the market opportunities for your business so you can make the most of every chance.

Research into the competition

While you shouldn’t obsess over your competition or allow their success to stop you from chasing your own, you need to know what the like-minded businesses have in the offer and how they operate. You can learn a lot of valuable information so that you can apply certain strategies and avoid some practices. Besides, it would be impractical to get involved with market segments that are saturated with competitors.

When analyzing a new market opportunity, think about products and brands whose popularity is growing and strive to learn why is that so, as well as what their value proposition is. Next, consider the strengths and the weaknesses of your competition because all of that data might be your tool for gaining a competitive advantage over them. Along the way, you might also learn about additional opportunities for growth so keeping an eye on the competition is a useful strategy in many ways.

Use your research to partner up

If you examined your competition closely, you must have noticed that a number of them have some sort of collaboration with other businesses. Sometimes those businesses are similar so it turns into a mutual promotion but often they are from a different industry and the products or services in question are in a way complementary.

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For instance, GoPro and RedBull have successfully collaborated on many projects although these brands offer different products and this is because they have a mutual interest in action sports. GoPro supplies adventurers and athletes with the necessary sports equipment, while RedBull uses its experience and reputation to organize and sponsor mutual events. So, if you see the potential to expand by collaborating with a business from a different industry, it would be wise to research the best options as soon as possible so you can seize an opportunity on time.

Look into foreign markets

If your market is currently close to getting oversaturated, it is time to turn your gaze to foreign prospects. Foreign markets grow in differences paces due to various factors being at play so before investing in an exotic market like, for instance, Indonesia and its rapidly growing real estate industry, businesses often consult with local experts, such as Invest Islands company, to learn about the market size, competitors, and business potential but also about their rights and obligations as foreign investors. 

In addition to that, stepping out on the foreign market can bring you valuable experience and insights which can later serve to make some changes to your local market, your offer or your business operations. You cannot know for sure what can be changed and how to change things for the better if you haven’t had the opportunity to see for yourself how things work in different countries and markets. 

Learn about the customers

To ensure that there is space for you in this new undertaking, you need to get thoroughly acquainted with the customers and their needs. Pieces of information such as their age, gender, educational level, occupation, location, lifestyles, opinions can help you learn if there is a need for something new or if something old needs to be changed to be more successful. 

For instance, if you are selling diapers, you would want to research the number of babies and toddlers that live in a certain country or city and information on their parents will help you find the best manner to market your product in terms of the design, prices, and other elements. Your current and potential customers hold the key to data essential for your decision regarding a certain prospect. 

Consider the technological advances

We stand witness of how much the communication, as well as the business operations, have changed owing to technology and its development. Research and common sense have shown that people increasingly use smartphones to conduct their purchase so you need to make sure that you climb on the boat of responsiveness to make sure your website and purchase platform work without a glitch across different devices.

People travel more and do things on the move, so this general mobility is an important factor to have in mind when researching new market opportunities. Are you in real estate and you have so far only been offering traditional rentals? You might want to try embracing a different model considering the success of Airbnb and offer your accommodation to the people around the world.

Wrapping up

It is true that success is rarely found in your comfort zone but again, this doesn’t mean that you should rush into something without giving it a thought. To seize a favorable opportunity, you need to analyze certain factors such as the competition and their tactics, the habits and interests of the customers, the technological advances and the changes they bring, and if your market is oversaturated, look into foreign prospects. If the climate is beneficial, don’t hesitate to join in the action!