How to Do Market Research!

Core idea

Before launching or investing heavily (e.g., quitting a job or taking loans), validate whether there’s a real, data-driven market for your product or service.

What to measure / validate

Focus on:

• Market size & growth (to estimate demand potential and momentum)
• Customer demographics & buying behavior (who buys, and how they buy)
• Category/segment performance (e.g., ingredient/scent preferences; product format preferences)
• Competitor landscape (who wins; pricing; ingredients/features that matter)
• Market pain points (what frustrates customers and how your product solves it)
• Regulatory constraints (e.g., whether products require FDA approval)

Market research approaches (framework / playbook)

1) Secondary market research (use existing data first)

Use free or paid reports and public information before collecting your own data.

Examples of secondary sources mentioned

• Paid industry reports (e.g., PDF reports from market research firms)
• Free reports from reputable associations/non-profits
• Search engines and social platforms to identify major players
• Tools:
  • Google Ads to estimate competition for keywords
  • Google Trends to see what’s “hot,” seasonal demand, geography, and related queries

How it’s applied (example: “Groomio”) The presenter cites a free report suggesting:

• U.S. pet spending on products/services grows at ~5% annually
• Pet ownership is increasing, especially among millennials
• The average dog owner spends $84/year on grooming supplies/services

Keyword trend checks show:

• Searches for “dog grooming” and “beard oil” have slight growth over the last 5 years
• Trend data can inform product design and advertising timing/targeting

2) Competitor analysis (build your advantage based on what’s working)

What to gather

• Successful brands and their pricing
• Most popular ingredients and scents/features
• Financial stability / risk indicators (e.g., business credit reports)
• Evidence of demand via search visibility and social signals

Concrete tactics mentioned

• Use Google/Twitter searches to find major players quickly
• Use Google Ads to gauge competition intensity for target keywords

3) Primary market research (collect your own customer evidence)

Primary research is framed as the “serious” step: more expensive/time-consuming, but better at preventing costly mistakes.

Common methods

• Surveys (distributed to the right audience)
• Polls on company social media
• Paid survey panels/web services to reach target segments
• Face-to-face interviews (most effective for uncovering real problems/pains)
• Observational learning at events (e.g., farmer’s markets)
• Mining customer complaints in competitor comment sections / review platforms
  • Example: building a business model from Amazon review complaints (product improvements driven by expressed customer wishes)

Why it matters Customers are humans—the goal is to identify “market pains”: frustration or inconvenience your product can solve.

Case examples (showing “market pain” and decision-making)

Example A: “Ruth” (handmade soap → packaging decision)

• At a local farmer’s market, Ruth notices people won’t buy handmade soap online due to packaging waste concerns
• Action: Switch to recyclable packaging and emphasize it in advertising

Recommendation: Don’t guess. Listen for the specific objection, then align messaging and packaging to it.

Example B: “Martin” (food truck sandwich → ingredient elimination)

• Martin surveys customers and runs polls (including paying for additional survey responses)
• Finding: people who like bacon don’t like truffle oil
• Action: Avoid launching with an ingredient that would likely reduce sales

Recommendation: Test specific feature/ingredient hypotheses with the right customers before committing budget.

Example C: “Groomio” (dog beard oil → launch timing decision)

• Survey result: 4% of dog owners are interested
• Conclusion: Don’t take a loan yet; treat the result as “objective honesty” to prevent waste

Recommendation: If validation fails (e.g., very low interest), treat it as an early money-and-effort saving signal.

Key business warning: avoid “cheerleading” instead of testing

Be cautious of coaches who only encourage. Market research should provide truth, not reassurance.

Decision output / success criteria

The video frames the most important outcome as:

• Objective honesty about viability
• A clear go/no-go (or pivot) based on research findings

If research contradicts excitement, that’s treated as a win because it saves money and time.

Metrics & KPIs explicitly mentioned (and how they’re used)

• Pet market growth rate: ~5% annually
• Average dog-owner spend on grooming supplies/services: $84/year
• Keyword trend growth: “dog grooming” and “beard oil” slightly grew over 5 years
• Primary research interest rate: 4% interested in Groomio (used to avoid taking a loan)

(No CAC/LTV/churn targets were mentioned; the emphasis is on demand validation and competitor landscape rather than unit economics.)

Presenter / sources

• Presenter: Unspecified narrator
  • “Ruth” and “Martin” are examples within the stories (not named external sources)
• Organization/source mentioned for data: American Pet Products Association (free report)
• Institution mentioned for resources: U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
• Platform/tool examples: Google Ads, Google Trends, Twitter, Amazon reviews