Market research services for cash flow

Market research services can improve cash flow since accurate information should pull together the data needed to increase sales.

Jim Cooper of Conscientia Research in Monrovia, California, says market research services help make strategic decisions.

Here’s an example:

A start-up food company is making an organic product like a new type of sourdough bread. They contact local health food stores and niche stores like Whole Foods or Gelsons to get shelf space. They do.

But they’re competing against larger bakeries that make sourdough bread which is readily available in all larger stores like Vons, Ralps, and Albertsons.

Why not choose a completely different type of bread that really can fit in to a niche?

A market research service could gather the data to show how to package their sourdough bread differently so it stands out on the shelf or in the aisle.

Maybe a different flavor bread altogether would be best like a zucchini-type bread shaped in the same style as sourdough.

The market research could give the bread company information needed to enter a market or create a product line that’s not already crowded and may generate a much more favorable return.

To read more on market research for companies, click on this article I wrote to Examiner.com or contact Conscientia Research through the corporate web site.

Organizational change and cash flow

Making major organizational changes may not help cash flow if the same root problems exist.

Creating change doesn't mean the bookkeeper will balance the ledger more effectively and that cash will start rolling in the door and the CPA will give a thumbs up at the next audit. The idea that change doesn't produce desired results caught my attention today. I was reading a speech from Paul Light who gave a speech to the Citibank Board Leadership Forum in 2004. Here are the remarks that caught my attention:

"We are drowning in change right now. Hardly a moment goes by without some new idea for making your organization’s faster, leaner, smarter, meaner.

"Private companies are constantly implementing new ideas and then reporting on failed implementation. The failure rates of change are extraordinary. Seventy percent of mergers and acquisitions – no worries here at Citibank – 70% fail to measure up to the original profit and loss projections. And you’ve got TQM [Total Quality Management], which is often under-implemented, and so forth."

His remarks are published on the Web site, Center for Nonprofit Management.

Before undertaking changes, focus on the ones that will do the most to generate cash flow. This is another reason an activity like market research could be a wise strategic investment.

Click here to read: Industry Market Research and Market Intelligence

Paid Market Research

When creating change in an organization, make sure it's strategic change and there is objective data to back up the decision-making process.

Industry market research and market intelligence

Conducting industry market research and gathering market intelligence is a foundational step to generate cash flow for a company.

Market research is an expense and an investment. But done well the activity will provide intelligence and offer a framework for decision making. Market research leads to market intelligence which the American Marketing Association defined as a "systematic gathering, recording and analyzing of data about phenomena related to the marketing of goods and/or services."

Market intelligence is knowledge intersects beliefs and truths.

Market research and sifting through data to build an intelligent framework for decision-making is necessary when lots of information is available to analyze. It may be a strategically wise investment to hire an outside resource to come in, organize the data and perhaps generate additional research to validate opinions.

Also read Paid Market Research

Paid market research: value for growing businesses

Paid market research has value for growing businesses.

"Accurate information is your multiplier and leverage in the marketplace," says Jim Cooper of Conscientia Research.

Here are the reasons he says market research is a valuable tool that ultimately assists companies with their cash flow:

• Customized market research validates assumptions, ideas and questions
• Market research gives accurate and precise qualitative and quantitative data
• Companies have a better understanding of the competition and can define the product or service
• Market research helps to qualify leads
• Research can help companies understand the regulations and need for compliance in specific industries

To set an appointment and learn what market research can do for your company call Don Simkovich at 818-667-1789.

Also read Market Research and Market Intelligence