Market Analysis
Together we will develop a precise understanding of your market(s) and its dynamics. This will allow you to make an informed decision on any possible business opportunities. This will allow you to maximize your chances of success as well as to minimize the strategic risks (or at least have a plan to mitigate them) when entering a particular market. Regardless of the stage in which you are in your venture, it is of fundamental importance that you are clear about how the market works and how value is created in the market where you compete or may compete in the future.
In this training, you will
Training You Will
- Develop a thorough understanding of the market(s) where you can compete in and its dynamics.
- Reflect on how to assess a business opportunity within a market.
- Challenge the sources’ credibility (from primary and secondary research) and their assumptions on the market analysis data.
Skills that will be explored
Step 1: Identify High-level Trends (Worldwide)
With your team, brainstorm all possible high-level trends occurring throughout the world. After collecting your team’s raw thoughts, connect these trends with recent, verifiable data so that you avoid chasing unnecessary leads. Group the identified trends according to the following eight data categories:
- The economic climate
- Industry/sector growth
- Demographic/social trends
- Emerging technology
- Regulations/law
- Finance/venture capital
- Media/pop culture
- Consumption
Some examples of high-level trends to explore:
Identifying high-level trends is important because they not only affect your own business, but everything around you, which is the point of context. Zooming out gives you a panoramic view. From there, zoom in on the areas most pertinent to you.
Deliverables
A categorized list of the most significant trends that could be affecting your business now or will be in the future.
Step 2: Identify Trend Impact
The trends listed in your document from Step 1 will affect your firm in different ways depending on the framing. We have identified three general frames of reference that provide significant leverage:
- Consumer lifestyle/behavior
- Industry
- Individual company segments
For each of these lenses, describe how each trend will drive change.
In Step 2, you will begin to see what the future will look for the consumer, your competitors, and your business considering the identified trends. This provides a more accurate context for your business decisions based on data.
Deliverables
Step 2 will produce a list of the general frames that you consider most important with the trends and their anticipated effects listed underneath those general frames.
Step 3: Assign a Value to the Effects That You Identified in Step 2
The effects identified in the document in Step 2 can be opportunities, threats, or both depending on your firm’s position. Using the outputs from your capabilities [link] analysis, compare your firm’s reality to the reality exposed by these trends. For example, how well you can respond to the effects of the identified trends
Assign a value to the effects, ranging from -5 to 5, depending on your firm’s ability to react and capitalize on the trend.
Final Deliverables
This context analysis process will deliver a trend document for all of the trends you have identified. It will document the magnitude of their effect on your business, your competitors, and your customers. You will also better appreciate your company’s ability to react to potential opportunities and threats. It is crucial to undergo this process at regular intervals because your context is always changing.
The goal of this process is to provide you with the knowledge and data that you need to make better business decisions. This process will give you an accurate understanding of your environment and tell you how you should be reacting to it to better serve your customers. Without this knowledge and insight, you are flying blind.