Question

Successful businesses perform marketing research in order to determine historical profitability of the firm's products. detect trends and changes in consumer demand. analyze their firm's profitability and find ways of increasing it. compare their financial statements with those of competitors.

Answer 1

It is vitally important that all organisations keep a step ahead of their competitors and that they can understand their market and where they fit in it. Complacency is the killer of all businesses. The fact that you have succeeded once does not give you the magic elixir for eternal success. It is a constant struggle of creating new innovations and foresight. Market research gives you a map of where you have been and where you might want to head. It shows the bumps along the way and the trends that may be cyclical that you must consider. It shows where you are in relation to your competitors and areas that will need improving to maintain competitiveness.