Business: What Steps Can Small Companies Take to Scan the Market and the Threats It May Present to Avoid becoming Obsolete?
What Steps Can Small Companies Take to Scan the Market and the Threats It May Present to Avoid becoming Obsolete?
Small companies have an important role to play in present day world economy. They play an important role influencing the demand and supply curve in any economy. According to Field (2013), there are almost 28 million small businesses in the US. But, smaller businesses do not have the kind of reserves and surpluses like larger companies and are more vulnerable to risks of obsolescence and bankruptcy. This paper discusses the steps that smaller companies take to scan the market to identify threats that may lead to its obsolescence.
Small businesses can take three main steps to scan its market to identify threats to its obsolescence. First, companies can gather real time market information through its sales team that is present in the market. The sales team interacts with customers and suppliers on a daily basis, is well aware of competition activities and understands changes taking place in the market dynamics. Incentivising the sales team to share their learning is a good way to assess a firm’s market position.
Second, proper channelization of customers’ feedbacks and complaints is an important tool of market scanning. According to Crowley (2007), getting feedback from customer is easy but often ignored as a tool to understanding market trend. Customer can be encouraged to give a feedback or complaint about their experience with the company’s products and services. This information should be collected and shared internally on a daily basis.
Third, firms can get market information through external agencies. The firms can either purchase secondary researches on a particular market or can hire agencies to conduct research and collect primary information. The latter is more useful in situations where companies want to test a particular hypothesis or hunch they have about changing market dynamics.
References
Crowley, Ed (2007). Market Scanning and Roadmapping: Creating a Product Strategy by Learning the Terrain and Building a Plan. Retrieved from http://whattheythink.com/articles/34866-market-scanning-roadmapping-creating-product-strategy/
Field, Andrew (2013). 16 Surprising Statistics About Small Businesses. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonnazar/2013/09/09/16-surprising-statistics-about-small-businesses/
