One In Eight Entrepreneurs Don’t Know Why Their Customers Need Their Product

By David Thomas

Market research software providers i2m - Ideas to Market, are shortly to publish research results into entrepreneurs, start-ups and small businesses. A special preview of these results, released for Enterprise Week, show that:

- 27% believe they have a product or service that improve on existing solutions

- 13% (One in eight) do not know or are unsure as to why their customers need their product

- 7% of participants believed that their customers had not yet recognised a need for their product or service.
i2m surveyed over 800 budding entrepreneurs and small business owners over the course...

...of 2008, investigating their standing and attitudes in a number of key areas including: finance, market research, sales and marketing and business exploitation.

Customers of any business buy their products or services because they solve a specific problem that they have.

Participants were asked what best described their customers need for their product or service.

The most popular answer to the question, with 27% of respondents, was that their target customers currently use alternative solutions to solve their problem that are adequate, but not perfect. If the solutions that already exist are adequate, these businesses clearly believe they have a superior offering. Communicating this superiority effectively will be their challenge.

As the headline suggests, one in eight or 13% did not know what best described their customers need. This could be a dangerous position for those business to be in if they are to convince their customers to buy from them.

7% of participants believed that their customers had not yet recognised a need for their product or service. Selling a solution to a problem not known to customers can be extremely difficult. These businesses will need to educate people as to why they need they need their product... continued on page two >

 

 

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