Existing Market
In terms of growing within the existing market, there has to be a shift in the direction for me at this given time. I primarily marketed my product to the youth population here, meaning the college students I am surrounded with. The actual market is not representative of just college students.
This means that I will try and shift the business around to incorporating more business customers outside the norm. For example, this means customers over 65 and single moms. These serve as examples to illustrate the untapped customer base available for me here in the existing market that I plan to utilize going forward.
New Market
By tapping into this new market with certain questioning and product assumptions I was able to open up my eyes as to the untapped potential available for business pursuits. Indeed, the target market I had before was underutilizing a select group of 65 and up that have savings and expendable money to give out.
College students are for the most part, struggling financially. This means that in terms of trying to be economically profitable, this customer group might not be the most feasible. In doing so, I limited myself to a limited perception of the existing market before. This new market approach will hopefully yield more positive outcomes moving forward.
Hey Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI think you are right about the importance of knowing your existing markets and capitalizing on the opportunities of new markets. It is important to know what your new markets are going to be in order to make the most of the opportunities that they can present. Market research is a very handy tool to make sure that the products and people that you are targeting are making sure that they are hitting the right markets and everything.
Hey Patrick,
ReplyDeleteI like that you acknowledged that Gainesville is not necessarily all-encompassing as far as your entire market. It is true that while this is primarily a college town, there are still residents that live in the outskirts of the city whom range in the ages you mentioned that you are missing. For example, looking into the surrounding neighborhoods near the airport would be an excellent location to target your 65+ market.