Are you about starting a bottled water production company from scratch? Then here’s how to conduct market research to ensure success of your bottled water plant. When you have decided to venture into bottled water production business, the first thing to do is to conduct a market research on the business to help you find out if the project is viable or not.
What is a market research?
A market research is a process used to acquire information about a business and its industry in order to understand more about the business and the future prospects of the business. A market research would help you know if a project is worthwhile or otherwise.
10 Types or Methods of Market Research
a. One-on-one interviews
For your bottled water business, a one-on-one interview would involve talking to residents of the area where you want to set up your business. You would need to ask them what they think about the existing brands in the market, what they do not like about the brands and what they think can be done to improve the existing brands in the market. This would give you a clear idea of the gaps in the industry and how you can fill them.
b. Focus groups
This involves gathering a group of people, usually about ten people and asking them questions about existing bottled water brands and listening to their comments. Their reviews and feedbacks would give you an idea of what customers want.
c. Telephone interviews
You can also collect phone numbers of people who reside in the areas where you hope to be selling your bottled water and then conducting a kind of telephone survey, whereby you would ask them questions about what they think of the existing bottled water brands in the market and if they would be willing to patronize a new brand. The more people you talk to, the better and at the end, you will be able to have a clear idea of what majority of people think about setting up a new bottled water business.
d. Product testing
You can actually produce a few bottles and give it to retailers to sell for you to see how the product would do in the market. If you are able to make quick and fast sales, then you would know that people love your product so you can go ahead and produce more. This would also give you a clear idea of how much people are willing to pay for your product.
e. Research reports
You could also make use of past research reports by researching companies. You can find many of such reports on the internet but you have to be careful when using such reports and make sure you verify that the reports are genuine and relevant.
f. Government resources/data
If you are looking for an accurate and reliable third-party market research report, then you should consider visiting government research and statistical agencies such as the bureau of labor and statistics or business registration agencies, they would be able to give you relevant and reliable data on the bottled water industry.
g. Trade unions
You can also receive relevant and reliable market research report from trade unions. Find out if there is a trade union of bottled water manufacturers in your area and join them. You would not only have access to information and trends in the industry, you would also be able to receive necessary support to start your business.
h. Academic institutions
Students carry out regular research on different industries and businesses to expand their knowledge and proffer solution to budding problems. You can visit the library department of the nearest university or academic institution to see if you will be able to find recent research reports on the bottled water industry.
i. Research companies
You may also engage the services of research companies to carry out a market research for you. But if you choose to do this, you must be very careful and ensure that you engage the services of reputable research companies to avoid them ripping you and charging you unreasonable amounts of money.
j. Newspapers and publications
Lastly, you can conduct your bottled water company marketing research by reading past newspapers and publications to get an idea of industry trends.
How to Conduct Market Research for a Bottled Water Company
1. Decide on what you want to achieve
Before you start your research, it is important that you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. Would you like to know how to price your bottled water? Are you interested in identifying gaps in the market? Do you want to learn about your competitors or you just want to know if the bottled water production business is profitable? Make sure you write out all the things you want to achieve with your market research before you start.
2. Identify topics to discuss
You should also write down all the questions you would ask and all the topics you would discuss that would help you to learn whatever it is you want to learn.
3. Decide on how to gather information
I have analyzed all the several methods available for you to conduct your research. You could choose as many as possible or choose just one but make sure that it is a method that is sufficient enough to help you gather enough information. The method you choose must also be cost effective. Remember that you are trying to start-up a business and whatever you spend now would be regarded as a business expense which may affect your profit adversely.
4. Do a SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is an analysis of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the bottled water industry. What is the future of the business? Is it a business that is expected to grow? How much influence does the government have on the business?
5. Study your competitors
This is also a very important step when conducting a market research for your business. A very strong competitor who has been in business for a while can wipe away your business in no time. This is why you have to carefully analyze if you have what it takes to compete with the giants in the industry before you venture into the bottled water production business.
6. Analyze your findings
After you must have conducted your survey, you should analyze your results to see what your research would reveal.
7. Select a course of action
The whole point of conducting a research in the first place is so that you can decide on a course of action to take. For instance, you could use the information obtained to determine demand of bottled water in your area, you can use it to determine suitable prices or identify gaps to be filled in the market.