Market research is how you check that your idea matches real demand, before you invest. You don’t need an expensive consultancy: a methodical, free approach is enough at the start.

Three sources of information

• The field: talk to real potential customers, watch how they behave.
• The web: forums, customer reviews, Facebook groups, Google searches (the questions people type reveal their needs).
• Public data: national statistics offices, sector studies, figures published by trade bodies.

The questions to settle

1. Who has the problem, and how many of them are there in my area?
2. How do they cope today (the current solution, however makeshift)?
3. How much would they be willing to pay for a better solution?

A tip: run at least 10 interviews of 15 minutes with target customers. Don’t ask “would you buy this?” (people are polite), ask “tell me about the last time you ran into this problem”. The past tells the truth; stated intentions don’t.

Key takeaway: market research happens in the field, on the web and in public data; ask customers about what they actually did, not what they intend to do.