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Asen Gyczew

Many business mistakes are made due to insufficient market research. That's why I created for you this hands-on course so that you can see how with virtually no money you can research many important aspects like the size of the market or a particular segment, the sales tactics of competitors, customer preferences, etc.

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Many business mistakes are made due to insufficient market research. That's why I created for you this hands-on course so that you can see how with virtually no money you can research many important aspects like the size of the market or a particular segment, the sales tactics of competitors, customer preferences, etc.

This course is based on my 15 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, performance improvement, and turn-arounds in the biggest firms from Retail I have carried out or supervised over 90 different performance improvement projects in different industries that generated a total of 2 billion in additional EBITDA. On the basis of what you will find in this course, I have trained in person over 100 consultants, business analysts, and managers who now are Partners in PE and VC funds, Investment Directors and Business Analysts in PE and VC, Operational Directors On top of that my courses on Udemy were already taken by more than 224 000 students including people working in EY, Walmart, Booz Allen Hamilton, Adidas, Naspers, Alvarez & Marsal, PwC, Dell, Walgreens, Orange, and many others.

I will show you 3 groups of market research methods:

  • Consulting methods

  • Online methods

  • Offline methods

Since we want you to be able to do market research on your own there will be very little theory and loads of nice examples in many fields. You will master the market research in areas such as retail, fast-moving consumer goods, the food sector, online businesses, services, and some offline businesses. This training will be especially beneficial for small business owners, startups, and consultants. You will learn mystery shopping, store checks, bottom-up, and top-down approaches, and others.

You will be able also to download many additional resources

  • Links to free presentations and movies showing examples of research

  • Links to books worth reading

  • Excels with calculations showing you how you can do the market research as well as analyses and draw conclusions

We will use the following tools:

  • Excel

  • SimiarWeb

  • Keywords Planner by Google

  • Facebook Audience Insight

  • Facebook

  • Mobile market applications

  • Slideshare

  • Youtube

  • Our own tools/formats

Enroll now

What's inside

Learning objectives

  • Spy on your competitors
  • Estimate the size of the market and value of customers
  • Draw conclusion on the structure of the market
  • Find ideas how to develop your business
  • Validate your ideas for new business using market data

Syllabus

Introduction to the course

I will show you here what you can expect from the course and what is my experience in market research.

Here I will introduce myself and show you in short what is my experience. For more Go to:

Read more

Here I will show you what to do if a blurry image appears

Here I will show you how to find additional resources attached to the coruse like Excel files, presentations, links etc.

In this section we will do overview of methods used in the course. We will aslo show how to use the consulting methods

We start with a short introduction to the 3 groups of methods we will cover in this section: consulting, on-line and off-line

In this lecture, you will learn our favorite method for the first rough estimation – the bottom-up approach. We also give you 2 examples of Excel calculation and how to use it.

The Top-down is the little brother of the bottom-up approach – not used that often but still very useful for resegmenting the market (niche and low-cost strategy).

Now let's see how you can use in practice the bottom-up approach to estimate the size of the market. We will have a look at an interesting case study.

In this lecture, I will do another case study, using the framework introduced in the previous lectures.

In this lecture, I will present you with the case study. You will be asked to estimate the market for ceramic tiles.

In this lecture I will show you the logical structure to the case presented in the previous lecture

Once you are done with the logical structure you should build the analysis in Excel on the basis of it

The data you have gathered will be used in your business analysis. You can also fill in the slides prepared in the very beginning and modify it if needed

Ovierview of Market Research methods
You will learn here how to conduct market research using practical off-line methods

Reality still bites. Here you will be given short overview of the off-line research methods with suggestion what to be used when

In this lecture we show you how to conduct the off-line interviews, how to draw conclusions out of it and where to find respondents

In this lecture we show you how to map and read the daily life of your customer and how it can help your marketing efforts

Store Check come in handy whenever you are talking about B2C physical products, services and retail. This methods gives you solid facts on which you can build your business

Service level is time and again your opportunity to disrupt markets. Therefore, check on your own customer experience with mystery shopping

You will learn here how to conduct market research using practical on-line methods

On-line research is cheap and insightful. We will go through all nice methods how to get to know the market, customer and competitors

Facebook Audience Insight is the perfect tool to check different segments without the necessity to do any interviews. For first estimation it is the perfect tool

How to creach Facebook Audience Insight

Facebook allows you to have a look at social profiles of your potential customers. If you want to understand them better have a look at this as well

You want to know what do your competitors do? Where they get the traffic from? Check this lecture on SimilarWeb.

Google is so nice to tell you through search results where is the market. Use the Keyword Planner to see whether you are able to make money on your ideas and how much you have to spend to get the trafffic

Google is nice but Youtube and Slideshare are the places to go if you look for more advanced info faster. Check this lecture to know what to use and when.

Mobile is the new black ;). Even if you are not into mobile applications check the markets for applications to see what are the worries of people and what they like

One of the sources is the World Bank database. Here I will show you what you can find there

One of the sources is the World Bank database. Here I will show you how to use it

Euromonitor has a lot of detailed data on European markets that shows you in a lot of detail the structure of many markets.

One of the source of the general data is trading Economics


If you want to research a market using online searches one of the most interesting sources is Ubersuggest. Here I will show you how to use it and what kind of data it has.

In many cases, you will have to do not only store checks in physical stores but also in online stores. We will discuss this subject in this lecture. Before going deeper into this lecture I would recommend revising the lecture on offline store checks. In the online store checks you can compare different types of stores:

  1. Compare different offline stores

  2. Compare different online stores

  3. Compare offline to online for the same brand

  4. Compare offline to online for different brands

We will discuss this in this lecture in more detail. Later on, we will have a case study devoted to online store-checks

During the online store check you most likely will be gathering the following information:

  • Name, photos of the product & assigned categories

  • Prices of specific products

  • Available quantity

  • # of reviews

  • Rules for organizing data on the webpage

  • Rules for presenting data

  • Additional information on the availability in offline stores

  • Discounts on the product

We will discuss this subject in more detail in this lecture

Let’s see how you can use online store checks to analyze the market. This time around we will do a store check for cosmetics

In this lecture, we will solve the previously introduced case study.

In this lecture, we solve the case study on online store checks.

Crunchbase is a great source of information on the startup world. They gather information on all investments in the startup world. On Crunchbase you can do research by following criteria:

  • Company Name

  • Industry

  • Location

  • Funding

  • # of employees

We will discuss this in this lecture

Now let's apply Crunchbase to research the drone industry and a company called DocPlanner that acts as a marketplace for booking visits with doctors.

Let's see how you can use the ChatGPT for market research

The information from customers is extremely important. Nowadays we have plenty of sites that gather customers reviews. We will discuss how you can use them in market research

The information from customers is extremely important. Nowadays we have plenty of sites that gather customers reviews. We will discuss how you can use them in market research. Below is a short summary of what you can learn from sites with a review.

In this lecture, we will discuss where you can find customer reviews for:

  • Consumer Goods

  • SaaS Products

  • Restaurants / Hotels

  • Local Services

Let's see how we can use Capterra for researching customer reviews.

Imagine that you were hired by a firm to analyze the emailing software market and to tell them whether there is a niche for them to create a new product. Use the customer reviews.

Let's see at the data that we have for the case study that we will be solving

In this lecture, we will be solving the case study introduced in the previous lectures.

In this lecture we will be solving the case study introduced in the previous lectures

One of the ways to understand the market and competitors is to try and compare products, especially from different firms. You can do that using comparison tools/sites

Let's see how we can compare products using GetApp website adn what kind of conclusions we can draw out of this

Here I will discuss other useful things that you can use to research the markets

In this lecture, I will discuss what kind of information and where you can find from official resources.

Publicly quoted firms want to communicate with investors. Therefore, they provide a lot of data. I will show you an example of what kind of data you can find from official sources of information from Disney

Publicly quoted firms want to communicate with investors. Therefore, they provide a lot of data. I will show you an example of what kind of data you can find from official sources of information from LPP – a big fashion group in Easter Europe (similar to Inditex – the owner of Zara)

In this lecture I will show you where you can find some useful financial data

In this lecture, I will show you how you can find what is the strategy of the competitors of the Target Company you are analyzing. This is an extremely important part of the competitors' analysis

Here I will show you professional methods of consumer research that you may consider for bigger projects, businesses


Let's see how you can combine all the techniques to analyze the home & garden market and present results

How to identify and undrestand trends?

In this section I will talk about how trends influence your research

Google Trends is an excellent tool to check whether certain keyword is on a rise or not. Thanks to this tool you can check what are the trends by countries and media.

Google Public Data enables you to browse publicly available data from 1 place. You get access espiecially to macrodata. Here we show how to use the Google Public Data to check what are the trends on your main drivers

Trend Economy similar to Google Public Data gives you access to publicly available, mainly maco data.

Statista is a great source of information on many markets. They gather data from other sources and analyze them

Important part of the trends analysis is talking to experts. I will discuss in lecture how to do it.

It’s not easy to find experts. In this lecture I will show you some sources that you can use

We show you here how to apply the techniques that I showed you to find the perfect location for a restaurant. You will find more in our new course: "How to open a restaurant"
Introduction to the case study

You have to find the right location, spot for your concept. It is not easy yet it has huge impact on your success. Without the proper location even the best concept will have at best mediocre results. The perfect location is the one that brings you a lot of potential customers from your target group. There are plenty of nice techniques that you can apply to make sure that the location is good. I will show you in this section step by step how you can pick the right selection and check what kind of profits it can bring you 

Storechecks are very useful also for checking specific locations. You can check whether specific district is good for specific type of cuisine or type of restaurant. I will show you here on some examples how it can be done

Google Maps is another great tool for checking whether specific location is good. I will show you here on the basis of an example how you should define the so called catchment area and how to measure the level of competition using Google Maps

On-demand marketplaces are aggregating offers from different restaurants from different areas therefore you can use their search module to measure the level  of competition and to see what tactics other apply to sell on-line food.

Keyword Planner can be also used with great success to check whether certain restaurant concept makes sense in a specific district. It provides you estimation of number of searches (people interested) and also estimation of your marketing budget

Review sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor are powerful tools that can be used to check specific location espiecially when it comes to number of specific restaurants as well as their strength measured via reviews (number of reviews and their average score)

Here I will show you how to use the tools we have discussed to pick the right concept

Concept is the type of restaurant you are running with all the implications in terms of the business mode. The concept includes: service level, type of cuisine you are serving, pricing, look &feels, purchasing reasons and habits of customers, capacity and size. We discuss in general why it is  important to choose the right concept what I actually means

Using the store-check you can learn a lot about specific business: who is coming to the restaurant, what they are ordering, how long they are staying, etc. You can also estimate whether the restaurant is profitable or not. I will show you step by step how to perform store check and how to interpret the data you have gathered from it

Here I will show you how to use the franchising concept database to research the concept you are interested in

Here I will show you how to use recommendation marketplace like Yelp to research the customer

Social media are valuable source of intel on your competitors and existing restaurants. By analyzing them you will know how they communicate with their target group, what is the focus of the both the restaurant owner / manager and customers. I will show you how to draw conclusions from the data on the fanpage of one pizza restaurant

Here I will show you how to use the Keyword Planner to research specific concept and make sure that it makes sense in your city. This method also helps you estimate what they are looking for (type of food, requirements) and also gives you some hints on how much you have to spend to get the traffic from on-line 

Quite often there are interesting reports already available on the market. I will show you here some examples

We continue with our cases study. This time around we analyze the target groups

Your restaurants will be visited by different segments of customers yet you should have 1 favorite that you will concentrate on – the target group. I will show you how to define it and analyze their behavior to make sure that you build attractive from their point of view restaurant concept in the right place

Here we present an exmaple from USA of segmentation with real data

In this lecture we show you how to conduct the off-line interviews, how to draw conclusions out of it and where to find respondents

In this lecture we show you how to conduct the off-line interviews, how to draw conclusions out of it and where to find respondents. Here we will talk about new, unkown restaurant concepts where it is much more difficult to find out what the customer really wants

Facebook Audience Insight is the perfect tool to check different segments without the necessity to do any interviews. For first estimation it is the perfect tool

On review marketplaces like Yelp, TripAdvisor you have plenty of reach reviews that can be used to draw conclusions on what the customer group likes and dislikes in current concepts. This will help you to learn from other’s mistakes and improve your concept. You can analyze what is important to the customer, what do they pay attention to and how to communicate with them.

Examples of presentations
Useful examples of presentations
Conclusions

Good to know

Know what's good
, what to watch for
, and possible dealbreakers
Provides methods small business owners, startups, and consultants can use to research the market and validate business ideas
Learn to use a combination of consulting, online, and offline methods to research the size, value, and dynamics of markets
Gain practical experience through hands-on exercises and real-world examples in various industries
Course instructor has over 15 years of consulting experience and has trained over 100 professionals

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Activities

Be better prepared before your course. Deepen your understanding during and after it. Supplement your coursework and achieve mastery of the topics covered in How to conduct market research in startups and small firms? with these activities:
Review basic statistics and data analysis techniques
Brushing up on basic statistics and data analysis skills will provide a solid foundation for understanding and interpreting market research data.
Browse courses on Statistics
Show steps
  • Review key statistical concepts (mean, median, standard deviation).
  • Practice data manipulation and analysis using software.
  • Apply statistical techniques to real-world data sets.
Review marketing concepts and principles
Refreshing your knowledge of marketing concepts will help you understand the context and importance of market research in the broader marketing landscape.
Browse courses on Marketing Fundamentals
Show steps
  • Review key marketing concepts (target market, segmentation, value proposition).
  • Read articles or blog posts on current marketing trends.
  • Attend a marketing webinar or workshop.
Participate in online tutorials on market research techniques
By following online tutorials, you can supplement your learning and gain additional insights into specific market research techniques, expanding your knowledge and skills.
Show steps
  • Identify relevant tutorials based on your learning goals.
  • Set aside time each week to complete the tutorials.
  • Take notes and summarize key concepts.
  • Practice applying the techniques you learn.
Four other activities
Expand to see all activities and additional details
Show all seven activities
Complete practice questions on competitor analysis
Practice questions will help you reinforce your understanding of the techniques and strategies discussed in this course, ensuring you can apply them effectively in real-world market research scenarios.
Browse courses on Competitor Analysis
Show steps
  • Identify key competitors within your target market.
  • Gather data on their market share, pricing, and marketing strategies.
  • Conduct SWOT analysis to identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
  • Develop recommendations for how your business can differentiate itself and gain a competitive advantage.
Join a study group or discussion forum on market research
Engaging with peers will provide you with opportunities to exchange ideas, learn from others' experiences, and expand your network in the field.
Browse courses on Networking
Show steps
  • Identify relevant study groups or discussion forums.
  • Join the group and introduce yourself.
  • Participate in discussions and share your insights.
  • Seek feedback and support from group members.
Create a presentation on market research findings
Creating a presentation will allow you to organize and synthesize your market research findings, while also developing your communication and presentation skills.
Browse courses on Market Segmentation
Show steps
  • Gather your research data and insights.
  • Develop a storyboard for your presentation.
  • Create slides that visually represent your findings.
  • Practice delivering your presentation.
Conduct a market research project for a local business
A hands-on project will allow you to apply the skills and techniques you've learned in the course to a real-world business scenario, providing valuable practical experience.
Browse courses on Hands-on Experience
Show steps
  • Identify a local business that needs market research assistance.
  • Develop a research plan based on the business's objectives.
  • Collect and analyze data using appropriate research methods.
  • Present your findings and recommendations to the business.

Career center

Learners who complete How to conduct market research in startups and small firms? will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:
Market Research Analyst
Market research analysts collect, analyze, and interpret data to help businesses understand their customers and make informed decisions. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and present your findings to clients. It can also help you build a strong foundation in market research methods and techniques.
Product Manager
Product managers are responsible for the development and marketing of products. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, identify customer needs, and develop product specifications. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the product development process, which is essential for success in this field.
Data Analyst
Data analysts collect, analyze, and interpret data to help businesses make informed decisions. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and present your findings to clients. It can also help you build a strong foundation in data analysis methods and techniques.
Marketing Manager
Marketing managers develop and execute marketing campaigns to promote products and services. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, identify target markets, and develop effective marketing strategies. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the marketing process, which is essential for success in this field.
User Experience (UX) Researcher
UX researchers conduct research to understand how users interact with products and services. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and make recommendations to improve the user experience. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the UX research process, which is essential for success in this field.
Management Consultant
Management consultants provide advice to businesses and organizations on a wide range of topics, including market research and strategy development. This course can help you develop the skills you need to gather and analyze data, identify trends, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the management consulting process, which is essential for success in this field.
Sales Manager
Sales managers are responsible for leading and motivating sales teams. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, identify target markets, and develop sales strategies. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the sales management process, which is essential for success in this field.
Business Analyst
Business analysts help businesses identify and solve problems. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the business analysis process, which is essential for success in this field.
Consultant
Consultants offer advice to businesses and organizations on a wide range of topics, including market research and strategy development. This course can help you develop the skills you need to gather and analyze data, identify trends, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the market research process, which is essential for success in this field.
Strategy Consultant
Strategy consultants provide advice to businesses and organizations on strategic issues. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the strategy consulting process, which is essential for success in this field.
Financial Analyst
Financial analysts provide advice to businesses and organizations on financial matters. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the financial analysis process, which is essential for success in this field.
Project Manager
Project managers are responsible for planning, executing, and closing projects. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, identify risks, and develop project plans. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the project management process, which is essential for success in this field.
Investment Analyst
Investment analysts provide advice to investors on investment opportunities. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the investment analysis process, which is essential for success in this field.
Operations Manager
Operations managers are responsible for the day-to-day operations of a business. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, identify inefficiencies, and develop solutions to improve operations. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the operations management process, which is essential for success in this field.
Technical Analyst
Technical analysts provide advice to investors on investment opportunities using technical analysis. This course can help you develop the skills you need to conduct market research, analyze data, and make recommendations to clients. It can also help you build a strong understanding of the technical analysis process, which is essential for success in this field.

Reading list

We've selected 13 books that we think will supplement your learning. Use these to develop background knowledge, enrich your coursework, and gain a deeper understanding of the topics covered in How to conduct market research in startups and small firms?.
Provides a comprehensive overview of consumer behavior, covering the psychological, social, and cultural factors that influence consumer decisions. It valuable resource for students and practitioners alike, and it can be used as a textbook or a reference guide.
Provides a comprehensive overview of marketing management, covering the four Ps of marketing (product, price, place, and promotion). It valuable resource for students and practitioners alike, and it can be used as a textbook or a reference guide.
Provides a framework for understanding why large, successful companies often fail to innovate. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to avoid the pitfalls of the innovator's dilemma.
Provides a simple framework for developing good strategy. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to create strategies that are clear, concise, and actionable.
Provides a practical guide to building a successful startup. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to validate their ideas, build a customer base, and scale their businesses.
Provides a unique perspective on building a successful startup. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to think differently about their businesses.
Provides a practical guide to getting customers for your startup. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to generate leads, build a sales pipeline, and close deals.
Provides a framework for marketing and selling technology products to mainstream customers. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to avoid the pitfalls of crossing the chasm.
Provides a framework for creating and sustaining successful growth. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to develop innovative products and services that meet the needs of customers.
Provides a practical guide to innovating with customers. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to develop products and services that customers love.
Provides a practical guide to creating products and services that customers want. It valuable resource for entrepreneurs and business leaders alike, and it can help them to develop a clear and concise value proposition.

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