i need to do market research and put it in to my business plan?

Question

this is for a cleaning business,

whats the best way to go about this?

Answer 1

Literally go into the street near where you are hoping to set up with a clipboard full of relevant questions (would passersby use your service...?)
Also ask friends, family, associates for their opinions.
Find out if there are other similar successful businesses operating in the area. Chances are if they have loyal customers, you won't want to compete!
Obviously, you are likely to earn more money cleaning in companies than in private households.

Answer 2

You need to consider the 4 P's. Product, promotion, price & place. Base your MR around this and structure it in this way in your business plan as that's what anyone looking at your plan will be looking for. This should help you to think of relevant questions. MR should also consider the competition so researching this and including it in your findings is a good plan (this would come under the place section - as competition or gaps in the market).

Try and make sure your research is relevant to the target markets otherwise anyone looking over your plan will disregard this, so as others have suggested, asking your target market is a good idea. To analyse the data you should try and limit the number of answers in an answer (saying picking a word from a list) or stick as much as possible to quantative answers (numbers). Graphs etc are always good in a business plan as it's easily read and looks professional.

Remeber this is supposed to help you though so make sure the questions give you good info about your market, get talking to people and also try to pick up future clients if possible. Don't make a questionaire too long as it will be difficult to analyse the key info and you don't want to alienate your key audience on your first meeting with them.

Remeber that you will only get a limited number of responses, but try and ensure that you get a good cross section of the community at which you're aiming. Otherwise you will end up with data that is "skewed" and will be no good to you in the long run.

Answer 3

you should look at other companies, who are going to become your competitors. are they offering the same thing as you, what are their prices like, do they advertise, how do they market their service, do they have price offers, what is their customer service like etc then you need to draw distinctions from your business and find your unique selling point, ie are you going to be cheaper than them, or are you going to concentrate on a better customer service.
you also need to do research on potential customers. do a survey etc to find out who will pay for your service. do this on the largest scale you can.
once you know who your likely customers are going to be do more research on them. look at market research already done by other people (ie BRAD, see this at a public library) to find out what else your customers buy, where they shop, what papers they read etc. it will all help you in targeting your marketing and advertising at the right people.

Answer 4

print some leaflets and do a drop in your target area and see if you get a response, although i think this counts as market research just modify your question slightly see what people think of your idea then include the findings in your business plan.

sorry i cant be of any more help.

Answer 5

I would suggest you look at existing cleaning companies and what they offer also put into your business plan your findings from what companies are looking for. Good luck with your business

Answer 6

There are a lot of information on the US Census and Department of Labor websites. Check them out!