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Starting a business is tough business. Entrepreneurs need to learn about the market before they break into it, regardless of whether they plan to open a business or franchise. In order to do this, they need the best market research tools. But often, those can be expensive. Thankfully, there are high-quality market research methods that are available to everyone, regardless of the size of their startup budget. If you are an entrepreneur on a limited business budget, keep reading below to find out the best market research tools for entrepreneurs looking to starting a business.
Government Resources
There are a ton of free online government resources to help you conduct market research on the cheap. Many of the best government market research tools are available online. You can visit the U.S. Census Bureau or the Small Business Administration, SBA, for some of the most up-to-date and thorough market research the government has collected. This is a great way to learn more about the future market that your business will need to break into without breaking the bank.
Social Media
Social media is another one of the top free market research tools for entrepreneurs. Not only did it help you learn how to be an entrepreneur, it also allows you an easy way to crowdsource useful marketing insight from your own personal and professional networks. Nowadays, almost all of the top social media platforms have polling tools for business and personal profiles. All you have to do is ask questions to get the insight you need. Of course, this is one of the very informal market research methods. Regardless, it is still one of the most effective market research methods for entrepreneurs on a tight budget.
Join Up
Joining an industry association is another useful way to research markets on the cheap. When you join an industry organization, you gain access to all their white papers and other assorted data. That means you can derive meaningful marketing insight that is directly pertinent to your future business. Clearly, this is beneficial for entrepreneurs looking to break into a market for the first time. That is why industry associations are one of the best market research tools for entrepreneurs with little startup capital.
Interviews
Interviewing members of your future business’s target market demographic is another low-cost market research strategy that anyone can do. That includes entrepreneurs with limited marketing experience, like yourself. You can ask for volunteers, or, if you have the market research budget for it, you can pay a small stipend to participants. Interview target audience members to easily gain market insight for your future business.
Website
Set up a basic website to test the market out before you start a business. This is one of the most commonly used market research strategies for would-be business owners, even those starting a courier company. You can often build and host a simple website for free using different hosting solutions online. Then, you can use that free business website to glean understanding of consumer behavior online. At the same time, you will also learn more about market demand for your product and consumer sentiment for your potential business. Clearly, building a basic business website is one of the most comprehensive market research tools available at no to low costs for entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurs have plenty of hope, but little startup capital. This is frequently a problem when you need to conduct market research to determine the viability of your new business ideas. Luckily, there are free market research tools and other low-cost market research tactics that can help you gain insight about your target market without incurring business debt. Consider the market research solutions for entrepreneurs on a budget, detailed above. You are sure to find them useful on your path to becoming a business owner.
