@177 CHAP ZZ MARKETING FEASIBILITY STUDY WORKSHEET AND CHECKLIST  FOR @NAME   YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE: ======================== 1. Describe briefly the nature of the product or service you plan to offer.  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ 2. Most products or services have a life cycle, beginning with very rapid growth in the introductory stage, which slows down in the maturity stage, flattens out in the saturation stage, and finally begins shrinking in the de- clining stage. Which stage of its market cycle do you believe your product or service is in?  [Delete this line and those below that don't apply:]  -- Introductory (high growth)  -- Maturity (slower growth)  -- Saturation (little or no growth)  -- Declining (negative growth in demand) 3. If you believe your product or service is in one of the earlier, faster growing, stages of its life cycle, what edge do you feel your product or service will have over similar ones that may be introduced by new competitors who may come into the field?  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ 4. If you are entering at a fairly late stage of the product marketing cycle, why do you believe that you will succeed in taking away others' market share with your product? (a) How is your product differentiated from what is already on the market (in terms of quality & price)?  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ (b) Is there good reason to believe that your customers will recognize the difference, and if so, why?  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ (c) What is different about your marketing strategy or distribution strategy that will enable your product or service to succeed in a market where there's very little, if any growth?  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ YOUR CUSTOMERS: =============== 5. Not everyone is a potential customer--certain age groups, income levels, geographic areas, ethnic groups and educa- tional levels will be more likely to be your customers. You need to focus on who will need your product and be most likely to buy it, and then where to locate your bus- iness or how to structure your marketing approach so as to reach those segments of the market that you are most interested in reaching. Spell out below, as clearly as you can, who your customers are most likely to be: (a) Geographic Area. The particular area from which I'll be able to draw most of my customers is:  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ In addition, I should draw a significant number of customers from the following area or areas:  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ My plan or strategy for reaching potential customers in the above areas can be summarized as follows:  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ (b) Ages or Sex Group. The chief market for my product in terms of age and sex groups, should be among per- sons in the following age and sex groups (describe):  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ (c) Income Level. In terms of income groups, my particu- lar product should appeal primarily to people in the following income levels:  [Delete this line and those below that don't apply]  -- Under $15,000 a year household income  -- $15,000 - $25,000 a year  -- $25,000 - $35,000 a year  -- $35,000 - $50,000 a year  -- $50,000 - $75,000 a year  -- $75,000 - $100,000 a year  -- Over $100,000 a year (d) Social, Cultural, Ethnic Factors. My product seems likely to be more in demand by certain social, cul- tural and ethnic groups than others. The groups that are most likely to be customers, if any, are:  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ The groups that are probably the least likely to be customers are the following:  ____________________________________________________ YOUR COMPETITION: ================= Even if you have researched SALES MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE's annual survey of buying power, researched Census Tract data at your local library, consulted the local planning commission and the Chamber of Commerce for local economic data, read Chapter 1 of the "STARTING & OPERATING A BUSINESS" book for your state -- and done a generally great job of pinpointing and studying your market segment -- the job isn't done until you have considered your competition. 6. My main competitors in my market area are: Name of firm: (list)  (a) _______________________________________________  (b) _______________________________________________  (c) _______________________________________________  (d) _______________________________________________  (e) _______________________________________________ 7. Based on my market research of statistical data (such as SALES MANAGEMENT, PREDICASTS, etc.), the amount of buying power per business represented in my market area now is:  $ ________ If I can generate that amount of sales, will it be enough for me to operate successfully?  __________________ 8. Five reasons why customers would buy from me rather than my competitors are:  (a) _______________________________________________  (b) _______________________________________________  (c) _______________________________________________  (d) _______________________________________________  (e) _______________________________________________ 9. Five weaknesses my business will have in comparison to my competitors are the following:  (a) _______________________________________________  (b) _______________________________________________  (c) _______________________________________________  (d) _______________________________________________  (e) _______________________________________________ 10. In order to overcome these weaknesses, I will:  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________  ____________________________________________________ --END OF CHECKLIST--