Market research can quickly become a black hole consuming far too much of your time, so remember that we're looking for answers to questions—not every article and data point out there. The three big questions that we're trying to answer are:

1. How big and painful is the problem my business will solve?
2. Who shares this problem, and to what extent?
3. What companies are already trying to solve this problem, and where are they succeeding or failing?

Google (in addition to other search engines) is your friend when doing preliminary market research. When starting, the first thing to remember is that your goal is not to prove that your idea is a good one. Now is the time to put on your "lab coat" and become a genuinely unbiased researcher. Treat the information you come across as objectively as possible. If something you find threatens your idea,— it's ok—it's just one data point. Do your best to simply collect information first, not translate it just yet. 

Let's start by listing the most critical questions you need to answer. As you research, create a document where you can write down your findings and store links, statistics, and other important information.  

What is the size of your Total Addressable Market (TAM)? Figuring out who is affected by the problem that your company will solve will help you determine the total size of the market for your solution. 

Who are the top competitors in this market? 

What is the core value proposition of the leading competitors? (What are they offering that makes their product or service valuable to their customers?)

What prices are the leading competitors charging for their products or services?

What are the trends in this market that could affect your business?

Keep track of the market research document you created and keep adding information to it. You will likely learn new information through conversations and future Google sessions, so keeping it all in one place will be very helpful later on. 

Now it's time to translate the information you've gathered by answering the following questions:

Is your target market large enough to support your business? (If it is too big, you can break your target market into smaller niches and focus first on one niche inside the larger market.)  

Are the competitors in this market large and well established?

Is your value proposition competitive? And if not, how do you need to change your value proposition to give you an advantage? 

Are your prices competitive??

Are there any market trends that could threaten the future success of your business? If so, how can you change your business model to account for these trends?

If you have well-established competitors in the market you're going into; it would be helpful to do some further research and list out the strengths and weaknesses of each of your competitors. 

Google is the best place to start your market research, but it's also helpful to check other sources that may be specific to your industry. Yelp and Google Maps can be great for local searches. Amazon and other online retailers are essential for product searches. Crowdfunding platforms can help you spot new products before release. The important thing to remember is that you're probably going to invest a lot into building your business, so it pays to be thorough when doing your market research.

Now it's up to you. The research you did and the answers to the above questions should give you a clear picture of the market you will enter. Hopefully, you also have a clearer picture of how you can succeed in that market.

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