Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

So it sounds as if you`re seeing a market, but you`re not sure yet how to work with that market---the African-American book store. The problem, then, is that you need to find out if there`s a "need" that isn`t being filled.

The color of skin really doesn`t produce a particular need, excepting in dermatology and genetic pathologies. Other than those niche markets and needs, what does skin color generate in terms of product needs?

Do black people read differently than asian people? Or is it a cultural need that`s missing? Are there children`s books that use black children as their main characters?

It sounds as though your initial market research shouldn`t focus on the market, that`s apparently defined. Instead, maybe focus on available products. How many books involving African-American culture exist; are they readily available; and if you consolidate them in an online store, would you be meeting a need?

On the other hand, if you want to diversify into a whole other line of business, then the question of what to sell is entirely generic. Nobody can tell you what to sell, but one thing that`s pretty clear (particularly here on SuN) is that it should be something you`re passionate about----something you yourself really love working with.

The point being that instead of surveying the market, wondering what people (in general) want, survey yourself. What do YOU really enjoy playing with or using? What do YOU wish you had, but can`t find anywhere? What do you consider to be "cool," fun or interesting?

From that list, go out and look. Can you find it? Is it easy to buy?

And then, when you`ve got those basic questions answered; that`s when you would do the market research. How many OTHER people agree with you. :-)

• How to do well by doing good
• Doing a market analysis and reseach what people want and why they should come to me to get it.

:-) It`s not that I missed your point, but that I was laying out the process. It doesn`t matter what you want to do, you`re going to go through a process. In my reading of your posts, it seems there`s a tangle in those processes.

For instance, I know as well as everyone that African-Americans don`t read differently than anyone else. But that knowledge then totally eliminates the "function" of reading. What`s left?

Then next things are "availability," "content," and "idea" (plotlines, characters, etc.).

But reading your first post, it`s as though you`re saying you want to get out of book-selling entirely. That was a bit confusing. Even so, there`s a process there too, if you want to continue to have an online business.

It doesn`t much matter if you already can get everything you want online. If you continue to think that way, then you`ll "accidentally" believe that everyone else on the planet also can get whatever they want online. That`s simply not true.

There, an example would be that I can walk within 5 miles of my home and find a used snowblower. Can someone in Montana find a new one online? Sure. But they can`t easily walk to a place to find a used snowblower. So for them, what`s readily available to me is not so easily available to them.

You may live in Florida and have no interest whatsoever in snowblowers. Does that mean you shouldn`t even bother to sell them?

One argument is that yes, you should still try to sell them, acting as a broker and making money. My argument is that no, if you have no passion for snowblowers don`t sell them.

It isn`t about finding what you already have. It`s about discovering a passion for something you didn`t realize previously. We`ve had numerous discussions on passion, and "helping people" isn`t a passion. A passion has to be specific. Helping people do what?

You always will do well by doing good. But doing good at what?

What you`re asking in your last bullet point is how to have someone tell you what to do. I`m arguing that only you can decide what to do. After you come up with an idea of what you think you`d like to do, THEN you do the market research to see if other people want whatever it is.

To answer your question. Helping people by offering a service or product that will make their lives easier. 

 

For instance, I`m a single mom without a car. So when Giant and Safeway started to deliver groceries, it changed my life – It meant I didn’t have to walk or wait for a bus or take a cab and then lug them all back home.  I would stand to say, it changed my life for the better.

 

Another example would be diapers.com.  They sell the essentials that you need for baby`s first 2 years of life.  So for tired mommies and daddies who would rather pay for the convenience of having them delivered in lieu of carrying baby to the store loading everything up, taking it back home, it saves them time, gas, etc.

 

With me so far :-)?

 

So I want to sell a product or a service that is fun but changes the quality of people`s lives, by offering more time, less gas, less money, etc. 

 

I am new to the whole idea and am just playing out several scenarios. Let`s push the books off to the side for a bit.

 

I am looking to sell a product or service. Right now I don`t know what the product is because I can think of million things.

 

So I am researching:

• Finding what I love and whether there is a need (that to me is bigger than a want, especially in today’s economy where people are taking a harder look at their frivolous spending)
• Do research and market analysis on something that I love that can be niched (like Diapers.com – not too many other people doing it) or
• Whether it’s like my little book business.  There are thousands of people doing it right now. If I find a service or product I love but everyone’s doing it, then I have to consider my competition and how I set my self apart.

 

 

 

 

Alright, there ya go. You`re looking at the process of finding what you want to do, what you like doing, and what strikes a chord. From there, it`s a whole lot easier to examine each solution to these projected problems, then find the people who would be affected.

That`s when you begin with market surveys and testing. After all, if you`ve come up with a desire to sell men`s razors, why would you do a market analysis test where you only talk to girl scouts selling cookies door-to-door. See?

A key component is the single mom without a car. That`s a huge demographic! It`s not that you want to help "people" in a vague and global haze. One thing you can identify with, that strikes a chord, and that brings passion into play is helping very specific people.

The next key point is exactly where and how you want to help those people. You mention saving time, gas, and money. That`s another very basic concept of building a business, developing a brand, and marketing a product. It`s your "unique selling proposition." What do you offer! (Not what do you do.)

A business should make someone`s life more fun, easier, save time, save money, teach someone, and so forth. What`s in it for the customer.

To best discover what`s in it for that customer, you get a running head start if you can find something where you already know what`s in it for yourself. I mean the product, not that you`ll be making money. :-D

Now suppose you decide on a product or service that associates with the single mom/no car demographic. One of the best ways to do some market research as to what might be out there, what`s missing, would be to join any kind of group of single moms. If you can find one even more specific, with no car, that`d be fine but not necessary.

A friend of mine wanting a child by what used to be called artificial insemination, joined a group of women with children conceived this way. She learned a great deal about the special problems of raising a child who has a father, but where the mother doesn`t actually know that father.

Just by talking and going to these meetings, she came up with many ideas of how to make all their lives better, easier, more efficient or less anxious.

Can you think of anywhere to research to find a group in your local area mostly composed of single moms? Of course another option would be to find such a group and forum online.

Alright, the key here is to do what`s been done, to get your brain firing. In my opinion, your initial post was thinking a bit too much ahead of the starting line. Now you`ve got the starting line. :-)

What to offer is the critical idea part. HOW to do it, that can ALL be worked out. For example, in your concerns about access. Many companies, including Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard will provide computers to charity organizations.

You`ll want to consider setting up a not-for-profit organization, if you go this route. Your salary, and the organization`s expenses are part of the expenses. As long as you have "no money" left at the end of the fiscal year, you`re essentially not for profit.

Of course it`s a bit more sophisticated, and you`ll want to talk with a lawyer, but you get the idea. At that point, MS or HP would donate some computers. You likely would get a break from AT&T or whomever, to handle phone lines. You`d have a Community Center (or could work with one already established) to offer access via computer.

You see? The whole thing revolves around WHAT you`ll be offering via this or that.

You might also consider interviewing local priests and ministers, youth counselors, civic centers, police neighborhood organizations, and the private charities to ask them what they think might be an important contribution for your area, and your capabilities.