Starting a Business 3: Customers and Competitors – FutureLearn

Find out how understanding and targeting your market can help your business stand out from the crowd To run a successful business you need to understand who your customers are and more importantly how you are going to reach them Whether you have an idea for a future venture or you already have a side-line business whilst studying this course will help you to recognise and understand your target market It will give you the time to plan and help you to start documenting your thoughts in a structured business plan while allowing you to share your ideas with others This course is the third in a series of six about starting a business Assess the importance of understanding customers and competitors when starting a business Discuss the difference between a market and an industry to help define the market and the product or service to offer to that market Evaluate the entrepreneurs business challenge Which markets should Ashleigh target for her product Explore the market for a business plan Discuss the size scale and characteristics of your market Summarise your key competitors or those of another business by performing a competitor analysis