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Monday, February 10, 2014

Sample Questionnaire for a Product


When starting a new business or developing a new product offering, you should find out if the product is marketable to your target market.  Will they want to purchase it?  How much would they want to pay for it? Where will you advertise your product to inform the potential customer of its benefits and value?

One of the tools that we can use is a Questionnaire.  You will see by reading the example below that it contains three main sections:  
  1. interest of the consumer for your product with regard to price and utility; 
  2. profile of the consumer; and 
  3. communications - what materials does the consumer read or what does he watch on television or listen to on the radio.

Whether you are contemplating a product-oriented business or a service, you will find that a questionnaire if very useful in planning your marketing plan.  Here is an example of a new board game:

I am developing a new product and am contacting a few people in your neighborhood for an important and quick survey.  I hope you will take a moment to tell me how you feel about board games.

1.    Do you play any board games?  Yes ____ No ____ (If no, please go to #7)
2.    What is your favorite board game?
       Backgammon ___          Checkers ____             Pictionary _____       Life _____
       Clue ____                     Monopoly _____           Sorry ____  Other ____
3.    On the average, how often do you play board games?
      Less than once per month ____  Once per month ____
      Twice per month ____     Once per week _____ More than once per week ____
4.   Would you consider playing a new board game about the stock market?
      Yes ____    No ____       Maybe ____    I don't know
5.    How much would you pay for board game about the stock market?
      $10 to $15 ____    $15.01 to $20 ____    $20.01 to $25 ____    Over $25 ____
6.    What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of the stock market?
       ________________________________________________________________
7.     On the average, how many hours of television to you watch per week?
        Less than one hour ____    1 to 3 hours ____    3 to 6 hours _____
        6 to 9 hours ______     9 hours or more _____
8.     Do you clip coupons from the newspaper?  Yes ____  No ____
9.     What radio station do you listen to most often?  _________________________
10.   What is your age group?
        18 to 24 years ____    25 to 34 years ____    35 to 44 years ____
        45 to 54 years ____    Over 55 years ____
11.    What is your household income?
        Under $40,000 ___$40,000 to $60,000 ___$60,000 to $80,000 __ Over $80,000__

           Thank you for your response.  The following information is helpful to my study but is optional:
Name:______________________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________
City/State/Zip: ________________________________________________________
Phone:  _____________________________________________________________       


Saturday, February 1, 2014

THE ENTREPRENEUR AND STARTING A BUSINESS

Many of us want to start businesses.  We dream of the day when we can work for ourselves and own a business and make lots of money.  Some of us want a service business where they may want to help others.  However, many of us do not realize what is involved in starting a business and what it takes to be profitable.  Let me propose several points to consider before you venture out to start that business which may be eye-opening to you:
  1.        Do you have the personal experience in a particular business?  Having experience in a business that you want to start will help you organize the start-up and be aware of the problems and pitfalls you may encounter.  Having experience helps to know how to deal with suppliers and vendors, use negotiation techniques common to that industry, realize the terms of payment typical in that business, and  the jargon used.  It certainly will make things a lot easier and lend to your success.
  2.       Know your weaknesses.  Whatever they may be like not being able to read financial statements or understand the income statement, or use QuickBooks, these can be easily remedied by taking a few courses at a local community college.  Of course, as time goes by and your business can support it, you can hire a bookkeeper or an accountant to perform the tasks that were originally yours.
  3.       Have passion or excitement about the industry.  Having passion and the love of the business helps draw people into your idea and they will become excited too.  This attitude will help in obtaining financing and increasing your patronage.  Imagine going to work every day and being happy about it!
  4.        Be able to discuss your business concept in relevant, concise language.  This is a key to having people understand what your concept is all about.   Especially being able to articulate the “why” of starting the business and having the vision will move you to be a success.  Having that sense of purpose will help drive you through the trials and tribulations of a business and keep you going.  What is it that you will be achieving in the marketplace?
  5.        Think about the other companies which are similar to your business concept.  Are they growing and selling more because the economy is good and the industry is in a growth phase?   The answers to this question will determine whether you will be able to succeed in it, and you won’t have to be as smart as those trying to survive in a declining market.
  6.        Will your business cause a change in the way people do things?  Will you be eliminating the middleman in the supply chain?  Being able to make a change in the way people do things or do business is a great feat, and one that is a great business idea.  Consider Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com.  He changed the way people purchase books.  No longer will you have to go into a book store to purchase a book, just buy it online.  If you can change the world, then the odds are that you have a strong business concept.
If you have considered all of the above and the reaction is positive, then you probably have a good business concept and you should pursue it.