Moderator James Sbrolla said it best: It figures that a panel of three brilliant women would be participating in a session on market intelligence. Last month’s “Growing Your Business” session hosted by the RIC Centre and OCETA saw Usha Srinivasan, Director of Market Intelligence at MaRS, Christine Konig of Konig & Consultants and Isabel Alexander, founder of Phancorp Inc., discuss the topic of “Using Market Intelligence as your Strategic Weapon”.
These days, entrepreneurs are trying harder than ever to stay on top of their markets. In order to do so, they must do all they can to fully understand the market – including the roles that both their customers and competitors play there. This is where market intelligence comes in.
Srinivasan, Konig and Alexander all stressed the importance of knowing your customer, knowing their pain, figuring out how you will solve their pain and communicating a clear value proposition to them. But market intelligence doesn’t stop with your customers. It is crucial to stay on top of what your competitors are doing, keep up with new and dynamic market trends, and create an innovative and effective business model.
Although this seems like a lot to do, knowing the marketplace that you plan to do business in is a vital part of growing your business. Fortunately, there are numerous resources available to help you. Check out MaRS Discovery District’s Market Intelligence program and for more information, you can download the presentations from the event.
“Growing Your Business” is the RIC Centre’s educational series of monthly breakfast sessions that cover a variety of topics relevant to entrepreneurs and small business owners. Join us on January 20th when we focus on Raising Cash from Angels and VCs.