market research

Hi Liz,

I'm not a great enthusiast for using paid market research services. Firstly they cost a lot, but secondly you as the entrepreneur need to get stuck into identifying your target customers and listening to their views rather than doing it through the filter of a 3rd party.

In your case I'd recommend a couple of things:

1. Spend more time checking out the competition. Women will easily travel 12 miles for a purchase as important as their wedding dress so you need to include those other shops in quite a wide radius. Go in and browse their product range, see if you can find out about pricing, see what their service is like - but it may also be worth spending a few hours or even a day in a cafe nearby watching how many people go in there! Also - do you have any competition on the web or by mail order? By browsing the competition you might be able to get an idea for what amount of money the average customer spends at present, and what level of service they get from that. Don't fall into the trap of simply trying to spot everything the competition is doing wrong - you need to also find out what they are doing right.

2. Next see if you can check the register at the local register office to find out how many weddings there are in each month of the year (it's obviously quite a seasonal industry) - they might be able to tell you that quite easily anyway. pick a couple of local churhces and do the same - then find out how many churches there are in the area. This way you can estimate how many weddings there are each month - and therefore how many potential customers you have.

I hope that helps by giving you a starting point. You'll be able to come up with some better ideas because you know your industry better. As my girlfriend could tell you, the wedding industry isn't something I know much about!! ;)

steve

Thanks for your comments Steve. Your suggestions about churches and registry offices are spot on - don't know why I didn't think of them myself.

I have already written to several bridal wear shops, explaining what my future plans are and to ask for part time work in order to gain the practical knowledge of how to run such a business. I even enclosed SAEs to make it easier for them but, perhaps not surprisingly, only one of them replied. I was offered a job on an ad -hoc basis, going in to assist the owner when she knows she will be busy. I started yesterday and learned quite a bit, with my new boss explaining as much as she could about her business experiences and answering my endless questions.

I'm due to start a small business course in January at my local college so that'll hopefully point me in the right direction too.

Thanks again for your suggestions though, they'll give me something to do in the meantime.

TTFN
Liz.

Hi Liz

Have you looked on the www.hitched.co.uk and www.confetti.co.uk both have forums and you should be able to do some market research with real brides.

HTH

Liz

Certainly does Liz, thanks for the suggestion - it's amazing how such simple and obvious solutions escape one's thinking!

Cheers

Liz