Performing market research (surveys)?

[nado]

For my revamped computer business (Drop Buy), which I keep putting off starting for various reasons, I'm going to target uni/college students simply because I'm surrounded by them, know the demographic fairly well and figure students have a wider network of people they regularly chat with than other groups.

Anyway, I want and probably should do some surveys to workout a couple of things such as what aspects students would find most appealing (price, service etc).

What's some good tips for going about doing a survey? (in general)

Purely online is fairly easy as I'd just send out emails to particular blogs and/or post in forums, but it's difficult deciding on free, good survey software. Some are great but most seem to be free with restrictions such as number of responses etc. I found this one today: www.wufoo.com but they only allow 100 responses per month which may or may not suit.

Offline...

Would it be best to keep the survey on paper and have people fill it out?

Or would it be best to give them a small flyer/card with a web link to an online survey?

Offline more-so than online surveys I think may need some kind of incentive.

Maybe I should print some business-cards which will have my business name, logo, URL etc... but have a link to the survey. And also state on the card that if they complete the survey they receive a 10% discount on their first purchase.... think that's a good method?

cheers
nathan

[Outta Hand]

hey Nathan,

Have you looked at survey monkey?

www.surveymonkey.com i believe

[Outta Hand]

Why not try to get different blogs to link to the survey and give a little blurb and the discount information. Sounds like the best way to go personally

[nado]

Why not try to get different blogs to link to the survey and give a little blurb and the discount information. Sounds like the best way to go personally

Cool, I'll checkout survey monkey.

I would do that if I were starting an ecommerce store where I'm based online and also target online. But ah, Drop Buy at least for now will be based online but targetting offline consumers (if that makes sense).

As if I base myself solely online and target potential customers online, then I have to compete with online prices (which really suck with computers).

cheers
nathan

[nado]

Found some good articles:

http://www.startupnation.com/pages/a...l-business.asp
http://www.allbusiness.com/business_...25-1818-1.html
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/cs/mar...research_4.htm
http://www.startupnation.com/pages/a...t-analysis.asp

[akula]

nado, you'll be fine, just make sure you get a large sample

there is also a trick you might want to try...

to score some start up capital and business relationships, before doing the survey, try to find a sponsor who'll buy the survey results.

call up 10-20 electronics shops in your area, say to them:

"hi, do you market consumer electronics targeted at 17-25 y.olds?"

"yes we do"

"that's great, I'm calling from so and so, and we can help you sell a lot more product"

"sounds interesting"

"yes, it is, can I come in and do a presentation?"

do the presentation and offer them a sponsorship package;

company logo on the survey paper, distribution of marketing material, rights to survey results.

this way you can pick up some cash and pave the road for possible seed investment in the future

[Nigami Enterprise]

One thing with surveys is you need to make sure that people tell you what you need to hear not what they think you would like to hear. Good luck with it

[nado]

ahh, very interesting akula

What sort of presentation would you suggest? ... just basically an example of the survey, ask if they would like any additional questions/info and a quick layout of how the findings will be presented?

How much would local shops be willing to pay for info/data like that (the package)?

I wonder if it would be better to find multiple "sponsors" or just the one... guess it depends if the one business would pay more than the others combined.

cheers
nathan

[akula]

OK...you have a problem, and you need to solve it.

No one likes do to explicitly commercial surveys asking them whether they'd buy something. They're just annoying, and unrewarding. To solve this problem of low response rates, you can characterise your survey as a study into how young people interact with technology.

"Longitudinal Survey of Technology Use in Universities". Got It?

Because it's characterised as a non-for-profit study, you can ask much longer, more complicated questions like: "what do you look for in a laptop?" and you can get support from a lot more people because you're doing a non-for-profit study...as opposed to something designed to line your pockets.

Ok? So you're doing a non-for-profit study, you have the gold, bronze and silver sponsorship packages, and you can even raise a grant from your own uni. Just offer them a sponsor package.

So that's how you do the presentation: you come in and explain that you're doing a study which is going to generate a lot of info on how students buy and use technology - where they buy it, how much money they spend on it, what they look for etc...

Then, you outline the benefits of sponsorship: a certificate of recognition, tax detectability, exposure to target market, good community standing etc...and you pitch the sponsorship packages.

It's not rocket science.....just pick up the phone and make some calls. Everything else will work it self out.

[akula]

P.S. Somewhere in the survey you'll ask a question:

"Do you need a UW based electronics shop?"

a) Definitely
b) Maybe
c) No

"Do you need technology bundles to help you study?"

a) Definitely
b) Maybe
c) No

* A technology bundle includes a laptop, a blackberry, and some software. You sell in bundles tailored for student's study needs. And you can offer finance....or a leasing option...so the students pay you a weekly fee to use the bundle.

Your overall mission is "laptop for every student - no student left behind" and you'll achieve it through flexible purchasing options and agreements with education providers.

You're trying to create the most wired university in the world.

Then you can export this concept to the other 30 unis in Australia.

You'll make millions.