- The basic tools generally used to gather market information include date collection methods like questionnaires, industry-specific journals and articles, and interviews with knowledgeable individuals.
- Give a reference to all trade associations that cover your industry. Use material supplied by these organizations to support statements and assumptions you have made throughout your funding request.
- Use numbers as well as trend information to describe the current market and its potential. Growth, declines, and new markets opening up are key information. Use Charts, tables and graphs for maximum impact
- For a seed stage business, a well documented market research report from a professional agency will go a long way in giving comfort to your potential investor. It will also indicate to the investor that your conclusions are
based on hard facts and not some hare-brained ideas.
- Often a company's offerings compete in more than one market. For instance, a company that provides a company selling its proprietary software product may also deliver consulting services. In such cases, it is
essential that the size and growth rates for the services market be separately noted from the size and growth projections for the product market.
- Show that you have searched out all those companies who offer competitive or related products. Define those who offer complementary products in the same or similar industries. Explain how competitive
relationships can be turned into joint ventures, strategic partnerships, buyouts, acquisitions, etc. in the future. Lenders or Investors will take comfort in the fact that you have defined possible exit
solutions if things don't go as planned.
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