Market research and market reports

Understanding market trends is important if your business is to make the most of its opportunities and remain competitive. You also need to understand your competitors and be aware of what they are doing in order to predict their next moves and exploit any weaknesses.

Try to get answers on:

• Demand for your product or service - is it growing or shrinking?
• What are the current general economic and market trends?
• How customer requirements and buying behaviour could change in the future.
• What new products are in your competitors' pipeline - could they make yours look outdated?
• How competitors are changing - what are their plans?
• What do competitors offer and what prices do they charge?
• How do your competitors advertise and promote themselves?
• Is there any forthcoming legislation which could affect your market?

See primary and secondary market research and understand your competitors for sources of this information.