eople on the list. This will take up a considerable amount of your time but you may be able to learn something that you never consider just by talking to those homeowners.

By the way, you should have an idea of the average income level of each household in your target market area. If the average income level is on par or below the national average, a lawn care service may be considered a luxury than a necessity. An economic downturn will force these households to tighten their expenditure, which will significantly impact your business. Design a backup plan if you intend to operate yo

Before you start your own lawn care business, or any business for that matter, you should do research on your target market first. This is necessary for three reasons:

1. You want to identify your target customer group or groups and their needs
2. You want to know where is the best place to operate your business
3. You want to know what kind of problems you will likely face in the future

An organized and thorough market research will be able to help you answer these questions and more. The most common way to research your market is to conduct a survey. So how do you conduct a market survey?

As a new startup with little budget, you probably want to consider doing the survey yourself instead of hiring a market research firm. You can design a survey that is one page long and make sure the questions are properly phrased and unambiguous. The questions you asked should allow your respondent to provide more details. Do not use questions that can be answered with a straight "yes" or 'no'.

When designing your questions, you can consider approaching the business school in your local university or polytechnic for help. The marketing professors or lecturers in the business school may be looking for new projects for their student and you can take advantage of it. Some of them may be willing to draft the questions for you for a nominal fee.

Once you have the questions ready, you can use your home computer system to print out a copy with your company name and logo to save some cost. Before you head over to the nearest photocopying shop for mass reproduction, you will need to have a list of people to mail your survey forms to. You can purchase a list of homeowners from your local homeowner association, list brokers or newspaper. Alternatively, visit your library and look up the Standard Rate and Data Service directory. You will find a list of publications that rent or sell their lists in that directory.

Your list should contain at least five hundred names and addresses. Aim for one thousand names and addresses if your budget allows. Not every one in the list will participate and return your survey form. You will likely get more responses from a larger list. With the list in hand, you can now photocopy your survey form and sent them out.

Another alternative to mailing out the forms is to call up the people on the list. This will take up a considerable amount of your time but you may be able to learn something that you never consider just by talking to those homeowners.

By the way, you should have an idea of the average income level of each household in your target market area. If the average income level is on par or below the national average, a lawn care service may be considered a luxury than a necessity. An economic downturn will force these households to tighten their expenditure, which will significantly impact your business. Design a backup plan if you intend to operate you

w do you conduct a market survey?

As a new startup with little budget, you probably want to consider doing the survey yourself instead of hiring a market research firm. You can design a survey that is one page long and make sure the questions are properly phrased and unambiguous. The questions you asked should allow your respondent to provide more details. Do not use questions that can be answered with a straight "yes" or 'no'.

When designing your questions, you can consider approaching the business school in your local university or polytechnic for help. The marketing professors or lecturers in the business school may be looking for new projects for their student and you can take advantage of it. Some of them may be willing to draft the questions for you for a nominal fee.

Once you have the questions ready, you can use your home computer system to print out a copy with your company name and logo to save some cost. Before you head over to the nearest photocopying shop for mass reproduction, you will need to have a list of people to mail your survey forms to. You can purchase a list of homeowners from your local homeowner association, list brokers or newspaper. Alternatively, visit your library and look up the Standard Rate and Data Service directory. You will find a list of publications that rent or sell their lists in that directory.

Your list should contain at least five hundred names and addresses. Aim for one thousand names and addresses if your budget allows. Not every one in the list will participate and return your survey form. You will likely get more responses from a larger list. With the list in hand, you can now photocopy your survey form and sent them out.

Another alternative to mailing out the forms is to call up the people on the list. This will take up a considerable amount of your time but you may be able to learn something that you never consider just by talking to those homeowners.

By the way, you should have an idea of the average income level of each household in your target market area. If the average income level is on par or below the national average, a lawn care service may be considered a luxury than a necessity. An economic downturn will force these households to tighten their expenditure, which will significantly impact your business. Design a backup plan if you intend to operate yo

s or lecturers in the business school may be looking for new projects for their student and you can take advantage of it. Some of them may be willing to draft the questions for you for a nominal fee.

Once you have the questions ready, you can use your home computer system to print out a copy with your company name and logo to save some cost. Before you head over to the nearest photocopying shop for mass reproduction, you will need to have a list of people to mail your survey forms to. You can purchase a list of homeowners from your local homeowner association, list brokers or newspaper. Alternatively, visit your library and look up the Standard Rate and Data Service directory. You will find a list of publications that rent or sell their lists in that directory.

Your list should contain at least five hundred names and addresses. Aim for one thousand names and addresses if your budget allows. Not every one in the list will participate and return your survey form. You will likely get more responses from a larger list. With the list in hand, you can now photocopy your survey form and sent them out.

Another alternative to mailing out the forms is to call up the people on the list. This will take up a considerable amount of your time but you may be able to learn something that you never consider just by talking to those homeowners.

By the way, you should have an idea of the average income level of each household in your target market area. If the average income level is on par or below the national average, a lawn care service may be considered a luxury than a necessity. An economic downturn will force these households to tighten their expenditure, which will significantly impact your business. Design a backup plan if you intend to operate yo

. Alternatively, visit your library and look up the Standard Rate and Data Service directory. You will find a list of publications that rent or sell their lists in that directory.

Your list should contain at least five hundred names and addresses. Aim for one thousand names and addresses if your budget allows. Not every one in the list will participate and return your survey form. You will likely get more responses from a larger list. With the list in hand, you can now photocopy your survey form and sent them out.

Another alternative to mailing out the forms is to call up the people on the list. This will take up a considerable amount of your time but you may be able to learn something that you never consider just by talking to those homeowners.

By the way, you should have an idea of the average income level of each household in your target market area. If the average income level is on par or below the national average, a lawn care service may be considered a luxury than a necessity. An economic downturn will force these households to tighten their expenditure, which will significantly impact your business. Design a backup plan if you intend to operate yo

eople on the list. This will take up a considerable amount of your time but you may be able to learn something that you never consider just by talking to those homeowners.

By the way, you should have an idea of the average income level of each household in your target market area. If the average income level is on par or below the national average, a lawn care service may be considered a luxury than a necessity. An economic downturn will force these households to tighten their expenditure, which will significantly impact your business. Design a backup plan if you intend to operate your business in these market areas.

An organized and thorough market research in your target market may cost you some time and money in the beginning but the insights you gained from the research will help you build a better business that truly serve the needs of your customers.