Change is an integral part of growing any small business. After all, businesses must constantly be evolving if they wish to stay competitive in their respective fields. Still, prior to altering an existing product or launching a new service, it is important for small business owners to examine how these changes could potentially impact their current consumer base. In this episode, Gene Marks and Jon Aidukonis discuss how small business owners can utilize various market research strategies to determine how well a new product or service will be received.

Executive Summary
2:56—Today's Topic: How Can Market Research Help My Small Business?

4:16—Before you commit to changing one of your business's staple products or services, it is best to conduct a trial run to ensure that your current customer base will respond positively to this change.

8:47—If you are launching a business, you should examine the leading competitors in your field. Consult their customer base to find out what their strengths and weaknesses are and then, model your new business accordingly.

11:02—Market research is particularly important if you are presenting a new product or service. Regardless of how optimistic you may feel about your idea, there are often very practical reasons behind why a specific product or service has never been successfully executed before.

14:32—While it may seem expensive, investing in some initial marketing research can save you even more money in the long run.

16:13— Be sure to explore some lesser known or previously untapped resources when conducting your research, particularly professional networks and community organizations that have a close tie to your market.

16:59—As a small business owner, you need to be patient and open enough to listen to constructive criticism.
Links

National Small Business Resource Guide

Transcript
Jon: Hello, welcome to the Small Biz Ahead podcast. My name is Jon Aidukonis. I am a director of marketing at the Hartford. I'm here with my cohost Gene Marks, small business extraordinaire.

Gene: I always thought it was Jon Aidukonis, actually. It's Aidukonis.

Jon: Yeah, it's a super phonetic last name.

Gene: So we were talking right before we started airing this and by the way everybody, Jon is our new host and partner here on the Small Biz Ahead podcast. So welcome.

Jon: Thank you.

Gene: Taking over for Elizabeth and we're glad that so glad that you're here, but you were sick over the holidays. I was sick over the holidays. You had bronchitis though.

Jon: I did. Yes. It was a nice excuse to relax and kind of have an easy holiday season.

Gene: Yeah, I got violently ill on Christmas Eve. I went and saw the Star Wars movie, which did not make me violently ill, although it was okay, but then I went out to dinner and it was bad. It was like food poisoning. So same thing. So like all of Christmas day I just laid around and I did nothing. And you know what? That was okay.

Jon: Yeah. I think it's the first year ever where I got to relax at the end of the year and take an inventory and recharge and the circumstances that prompted that weren't good, but it was actually good when I started to think about what am I trying to do in 2020 because I was stuck with myself.

Gene: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's funny here and it's because it was two weeks this year, it was a Wednesday and a Wednesday it was Christmas day and then new year's day, it's like both those two weeks were just gone.

Jon: Sure, it went by very fast.

Gene: Yeah. Here at The Hartford, it was empty from what I heard. It was like a ghost town.

Jon: Yeah.