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  1. @177 CHAP ZZ
  2.  
  3.            MARKETING FEASIBILITY STUDY WORKSHEET AND CHECKLIST
  4.  
  5.  
  6.                          FOR @NAME
  7. 
  8. 
  9.                           YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE:
  10.                           ========================
  11.  
  12.           1.  Describe briefly the nature of the product or service you
  13.               plan to offer.
  14.  
  15.                   ____________________________________________________
  16.                   ____________________________________________________
  17.  
  18.           2.  Most products or  services  have  a life cycle, beginning
  19.               with very rapid  growth in the introductory stage,  which
  20.               slows  down in the  maturity  stage,  flattens out in the
  21.               saturation stage, and finally begins shrinking in the de-
  22.               clining stage.   Which stage of its market  cycle do  you
  23.               believe your product or service is in?
  24.  
  25.                   [Delete this line and those below that don't apply:]
  26.                   -- Introductory (high growth)
  27.                   -- Maturity (slower growth)
  28.                   -- Saturation (little or no growth)
  29.                   -- Declining (negative growth in demand)
  30.  
  31.           3.  If you believe your product or service  is in one of  the
  32.               earlier,  faster growing,  stages of its life cycle, what
  33.               edge do you feel  your product or  service will have over
  34.               similar ones  that may  be introduced  by new competitors
  35.               who may come into the field?
  36.  
  37.                   ____________________________________________________
  38.                   ____________________________________________________
  39.                   ____________________________________________________
  40.                   ____________________________________________________
  41.  
  42.           4.  If you are entering at a fairly late stage of the product
  43.               marketing cycle, why do you believe that you will succeed
  44.               in taking away others' market share with your product?
  45.  
  46.               (a)  How  is  your product  differentiated  from what  is
  47.                    already on the market (in terms of quality & price)?
  48.                   ____________________________________________________
  49.                   ____________________________________________________
  50.  
  51.               (b)  Is there good reason to believe  that your customers
  52.                    will recognize the difference, and if so, why?
  53.                   ____________________________________________________
  54.                   ____________________________________________________
  55.  
  56.               (c)  What is different  about your  marketing strategy or
  57.                    distribution strategy  that will enable your product
  58.                    or service to succeed in a market where there's very
  59.                    little, if any growth?
  60.                   ____________________________________________________
  61.                   ____________________________________________________
  62.                   ____________________________________________________
  63.  
  64.  
  65.                           YOUR CUSTOMERS:
  66.                           ===============
  67.  
  68.           5.  Not everyone is a potential customer--certain age groups,
  69.               income levels, geographic areas, ethnic groups and educa-
  70.               tional levels will be  more likely to be  your customers.
  71.               You need  to focus  on who  will need your product and be
  72.               most likely to buy it, and then where to locate your bus-
  73.               iness or how  to structure your  marketing approach so as
  74.               to reach those segments  of the market that you  are most
  75.               interested in reaching.   Spell out below,  as clearly as
  76.               you can, who your customers are most likely to be:
  77.  
  78.               (a)  Geographic Area. The particular area from which I'll
  79.                    be able to draw most of my customers is:
  80.                   ____________________________________________________
  81.                   ____________________________________________________
  82.  
  83.                    In addition,  I should draw a  significant number of
  84.                    customers from the following area or areas:
  85.                   ____________________________________________________
  86.                   ____________________________________________________
  87.  
  88.                    My plan or strategy for reaching potential customers
  89.                    in the above areas can be summarized as follows:
  90.                   ____________________________________________________
  91.                   ____________________________________________________
  92.                   ____________________________________________________
  93.  
  94.               (b)  Ages or Sex Group.   The chief market for my product
  95.                    in terms of age and sex groups, should be among per-
  96.                    sons in the following age and sex groups (describe):
  97.                   ____________________________________________________
  98.                   ____________________________________________________
  99.  
  100.               (c)  Income Level. In terms of income groups, my particu-
  101.                    lar product should appeal primarily to people in the
  102.                    following income levels:
  103.  
  104.                   [Delete this line and those below that don't apply]
  105.                        -- Under $15,000 a year household income
  106.                        -- $15,000 - $25,000 a year
  107.                        -- $25,000 - $35,000 a year
  108.                        -- $35,000 - $50,000 a year
  109.                        -- $50,000 - $75,000 a year
  110.                        -- $75,000 - $100,000 a year
  111.                        -- Over $100,000 a year
  112.  
  113.               (d)  Social, Cultural, Ethnic Factors.   My product seems
  114.                    likely to be more in demand by certain social,  cul-
  115.                    tural and ethnic groups than others. The groups that
  116.                    are most likely to be customers, if any, are:
  117.                   ____________________________________________________
  118.                   ____________________________________________________
  119.  
  120.                    The groups that are probably the  least likely to be
  121.                    customers are the following:
  122.                   ____________________________________________________
  123.  
  124.  
  125.                           YOUR COMPETITION:
  126.                           =================
  127.  
  128.         Even if you have researched SALES MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE's  annual
  129.         survey of  buying power,  researched Census Tract  data at your
  130.         local library,  consulted the local planning commission and the
  131.         Chamber of Commerce for local economic data, read Chapter 1  of
  132.         the "STARTING & OPERATING A BUSINESS"  book for  your  state --
  133.         and done a generally great job of pinpointing and studying your
  134.         market segment -- the job isn't done until you have  considered
  135.         your competition.
  136.  
  137.           6.  My main competitors in my market area are:
  138.               Name of firm: (list)
  139.                   (a)  _______________________________________________
  140.                   (b)  _______________________________________________
  141.                   (c)  _______________________________________________
  142.                   (d)  _______________________________________________
  143.                   (e)  _______________________________________________
  144.  
  145.           7.  Based on my market research of statistical  data (such as
  146.               SALES MANAGEMENT, PREDICASTS, etc.), the amount of buying
  147.               power per business represented in my  market area now is:
  148.                 $ ________
  149.  
  150.               If I can generate that amount of sales, will it be enough
  151.               for me to operate successfully?
  152.                   __________________
  153.  
  154.           8.  Five reasons why customers would  buy from me rather than
  155.               my competitors are:
  156.                   (a)  _______________________________________________
  157.                   (b)  _______________________________________________
  158.                   (c)  _______________________________________________
  159.                   (d)  _______________________________________________
  160.                   (e)  _______________________________________________
  161.  
  162.           9.  Five weaknesses my business will have in comparison to my
  163.               competitors are the following:
  164.                   (a)  _______________________________________________
  165.                   (b)  _______________________________________________
  166.                   (c)  _______________________________________________
  167.                   (d)  _______________________________________________
  168.                   (e)  _______________________________________________
  169.  
  170.          10.  In order to overcome these weaknesses, I will:
  171.                   ____________________________________________________
  172.                   ____________________________________________________
  173.                   ____________________________________________________
  174.                   ____________________________________________________
  175.                   ____________________________________________________
  176.  
  177.                              --END OF CHECKLIST--
  178.  
  179.