"Conduct Some Market Research"

From time to time I browse through websites purporting to teach readers how to make perfume -- usually in just 7 Steps and in well under 1,000 words. Pretty amazing.

But one piece of advice caught my eye the other day. The writer advised the potential perfume maker to "conduct some market research."

Marketers spending $30 million plus to launch a new fragrance could be expected to immerse themselves in market research before signing the deals that set all systems to "Go!" These marketers have the advantage of close releationships with advertising agencies that can either provide market research or direct the marketer to a reputable source.

But I'm guessing this involves expenditures of well over $100,000, possibly over $1 million. The reader of a (free) "How To Make Your Own Perfume" article will not be spending this kind of money. And, as to "conduct some market research," they wlil be left to their own devices, probably without a clue.

This is too bad as this pre-perfume making market research is likely to be the very element that determines whether your project will be a financial success or a financial drain. Why? Because before you start to spend money developing your perfume, there are some important questions which you need answers  -- and these answers will, or at least should, be found through intelligent market research.

Note that I said "intelligent," not expensive. In fact, you can do some very worthwhile -- intelligent -- market research on your own, spending no more than the cost of a few bottles of you perfume.

Five essential questions --

#1 How large a following do you have?

#2 What evidence do you have that they will buy a perfume (or cologne) at all and, in particular, from you?

#3 If there is evidence that they will buy a perfume from you, what will they be willing to pay?

#4 What will it cost you, per bottle, to produce the fragrance for which they will pay this amount?

#5 How much promotional money will be needed to sell a bottle of your perfume or cologne?

This is a bare bones outline for your market research. Let me catch my breath and I'll write more.