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The importance of your target market

27 June 2020, 10:00 am by Samantha Garner

Starting a new small business is one of the most exciting things you can do in your life. But at GoForth, we also know that understanding your target market inside and out will increase your odds of small business success.

Why research your target market?

Imagine you’ve decided to open a flower shop. You find suppliers, lease a building and open your doors for business.

But by the end of your first week you’ve made a total of two sales.

What happened? Here are some possibilities:

Your shop is located in an area that gets little to no foot traffic, like a business park.
You opened your shop across the street from a family-run flower shop that has been successful in that location for 25 years, with many loyal customers.
People aren’t actually interested in buying your bouquets.
Your prices don’t align with your product’s perceived value.

These are just four barriers to your business’ success that market research could have revealed. Researching your target market can make the difference between a successful business and one that isn’t. There’s time and cost of associated, but it’s an important investment in your small business’ success.

Quite often, new entrepreneurs think their target market is “anyone who’ll buy my product.” However, this simply isn’t true. Using the flower shop example, maybe your target market is people who are interested in classes on floral arrangement. Maybe it’s influencers who want fresh decorations for the backgrounds of their photos or videos. Take the time to identify your target market.