When you’re dreaming up a new business, “market research” probably sounds like a tedious chore meant for corporate boardrooms. It’s easy to write it off as something you’ll get around to later. But if we’re being honest, skipping this step is a quick way to make an expensive mistake: building something few people want to buy.
It happens more often than you’d think. When entrepreneurs are asked why their ventures didn’t make it, the number one answer isn’t that they ran out of money or got outpaced by a competitor - it’s simply that there wasn’t a real need for what they were selling.
Nationwide, about one in five businesses close in their very first year, and nearly half don’t make it to year five. It’s a heartbreaking statistic, but it usually boils down to a disconnect - not truly understanding who your customers are or what they actually need from you.
Here in Wyoming, the stakes are even higher. Small businesses are the backbone of our state, making up nearly 99% of our economy and employing almost two-thirds of our workforce. But because our communities are small and spread out, we don’t have the luxury of a safety net. If you misjudge the demand for your idea, you can’t just wait for a new crowd of customers to walk through the door. There may never be a new crowd of customers.
The Three Questions You Need to Answer First
Before you sign a lease, buy inventory, or spend a single dime of your money, it’s important to answer three basic questions. You don’t need a formal, 40-page corporate report to do this - you just need clarity on three things:
- What’s happening in your industry? Is it growing, staying flat, or shrinking? Are there new regulations or technologies on the horizon? You want to make sure you’re paddling with the current, not fighting against it.
- Who, exactly, is your customer? “Everyone” is not an answer. You need to know their age, income, where they live, and what they care about. The better you know them, the easier (and cheaper) it is to reach them.
- What is your competition missing? Look at who else is serving your market. What do they do well, and where are they dropping the ball? Reading their negative reviews is one of the quickest ways to find an opening for your own business.
Figuring this out ahead of time changes everything. It turns a terrifying financial gamble into a confident, informed decision.
You Don’t Have to Do This Alone
It’s easy enough to do a little digging online, but free tools will only get you so far. The hard part isn’t finding data; it’s figuring out how all the pieces fit together to tell you if your specific idea will actually work in your specific Wyoming town. That kind of deep dive takes time you probably don’t have, and access to expensive databases you shouldn’t have to pay for.
This is where you can lean on the Wyoming SBDC Network’s Market Research Center. Our team puts together detailed, customized market research reports for Wyoming entrepreneurs – at no-cost.
The Wyoming Market Research Center can provide applicable industry trends, analyze your competitors, and deliver valuable insights like demographics, psychographics, and spending patterns for your target market. It’s the same high-caliber data a private consultant would charge you thousands of dollars for. This service can prevent you from having to guess your way through the dark or try to figure out what data sources are trustworthy in the margins of your already packed schedule. If you’re thinking about launching, expanding, or shifting your business, please reach out to your Wyoming SBDC Regional Director before you commit your capital. Your advisor will help you map out your specific goals - whether that’s validating a new business concept or exploring an emerging market. From there, our dedicated market research team will deliver the actionable data you need to move forward with confidence.
Research Isn’t a One-Time Chore
The biggest misconception about research is that it’s just a hurdle to clear so you can open your doors. It isn’t. Markets change, new competitors show up, and customer habits shift. The businesses that survive past that five-year mark are the ones that stay curious. They keep checking their assumptions instead of stubbornly defending them.
There’s no way to eliminate risk when you start a business, especially in a state as unique as ours. But you can choose not to fly blind. In a tight-knit market like Wyoming, that extra bit of care and preparation is often the exact thing that separates a business that lasts from one that becomes a statistic.
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The Wyoming SBDC Network is hosted by the University of Wyoming with state funds from the Wyoming Business Council. Funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Full funding disclosures available at
wyomingsbdc.org/about
All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.
