It’s a good idea to do market research when you are deciding on the franchise you want to launch. If you don’t do enough market research to know where your franchise has a market then you are setting yourself up for failure. Here are some questions you need to think about when you are getting started.

How big is your Market?
You first have to define your market. Is it a neighborhood? A town? The number of people walking by every day? Once you define it you’ll need to decide the size and if it is big enough to support your franchise business.

What kind of People make up this market?
Your franchise business will naturally be targeting a group of people. They may have a certain economic status, ethnicity, or age group. What kind of people live near where you are planning to launch your franchise and are they the type of people that need your product or service?

Is there competition directly or indirectly?
A big mistake that some business owners make is underestimating their competition. They can also make the mistake of not understanding their industry to know what kinds of products or services can replace theirs. You’ll need to make a list of competitors in the market both direct or indirect and what part of the market they control. Is there a risk that they will take more of the market squeezing you out or is there a new product or service that could become competition in the future?

How many people will take your service?
Just because there are 400,000 people in an area where your franchise will be, doesn’t mean those people will all buy from you. Take into consideration the size of the market, types of people, and your competition. If it appears there is not enough market share for your company to be successful then you should think of not doing that business. If you see that there is a lot of opportunity and a big share of the market available to support your business, you should go ahead.

Written By - Ryan Russell (CEO of Myanmar Business Answers)