Hi,

I am looking to open a retail shop selling cookie bouquets, cupcakes etc along with gourmet tea and coffee, so am looking to do some market research in the town to see if it's something people want. What questions do you think I should be asking? I've got a rough idea of what I want to ask, but thought it would be a good idea to get opinions from others too.

I will also be handing out small cookies and leaflets as my business is internet only (Legal) at the moment.

Any thoughts you have would be really appreciated.

TIA

x

Get your local phonebook and see who else is doing what you want to do. Find out how much they charge.
Are you near a college or university-talk to someone in the business department-enlist a couple of students to help you-college students will work for food.
Go to the SBA website-ther is a lot of information.
Hope this helps.
Happy Baking and Decorating,
Chef Angie

Market research is much more than having the man-on-the-street fill out a questionaire.

What is the population and the demographics of the population?
Ages? Income? Upwardly mobile or mostly transient college kids? Older population or a steady influx of young families? Median AND average income? Growth of community and how it compares to the nat'l avg? (The county just north of my is the largest growing county in the country .... at least it was when I did my biz plan ..... with a median income of over $20K HIGHER (Over $80K per household) than the county I live in.

What is the competition? How many others are doing what you are doing? How will you address the competition? What will you be doing that is different from them?

I have found that when asking people "Would you buy this?" they tend to answer "yes, it's a cute idea and I love it!". But getting them to ACTUALLY spend the money is a whole different story! That's why the marketing section of your business plan is the largest section of the biz plan.