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Knowing your market key for early business survival
By Ted Albenesius
SCORE Card
Market research is a systematic and objective way of determining who your potential and actual customers are and for collecting information to gain an understanding of their needs, their desires and, most importantly, their behavior.
Market research often helps define who wants to buy a product or service, who can afford to buy a product or service and who will actually spends money on a product or service.
You may find in a survey that nearly everyone may want a trip to Hawaii, for example. But, who can afford the trip? That question narrows the field considerably. Next, who actually spends money on such trips? Again, the field of potential buyers vs. real spenders is funneled down to a smaller pool of individuals. You need to know how large your potential pool of customers will be, their ability to pay for your product or service and the history of spending that indicates the likelihood that your product or service will sell in the marketplace.
Big corporations spend millions of dollars annually to study the marketplace, but the small business has an edge. As a small business owner, you are closer to the customer. The small business is often able to detect buying patterns and customer desires more quickly and react almost immediately.
O.K. Golf LLC—the O.K. stands for Our Kids—was founded by John Walton and Steve Conrad in July 2005. The pair had offered an after-school golf instruction program for several years at the Military Magnet Academy in North Charleston.
The program was sponsored by the 100 Black Men of Charleston Inc., which applied for and received a grant from the United States Golf Association to fund the program. Equipment was donated by the Natural Golf Corp.
Walton and Conrad formally and informally researched their idea of offering golf instructions to a wider network of kids before seeking the assistance of the local SCORE chapter.
There they met counselor George Giles in July 2005. In January, Walton began bringing golf instruction to more Lowcountry youths through an after-school program. Currently the Charleston County School District pays O.K. Golf to provide golf instructions to the district’s students.
The golf program became an instant success at most of the elementary schools in Mount Pleasant.
When asked to describe briefly what O.K. Golf was all about, Walton and Conrad responded: “Generating interest in golf and teaching values to a heretofore unknown group of prospective golfers is what O.K. Golf is about. Upwards of 75% of the participating students so far in 2006 have never been introduced to golf. We feel it is a great way to bring newcomers to a sport which can last a lifetime and to those who might not ever get the chance to experience what golf is really about.
“Equipment is furnished to program participants, including custom fit junior clubs, hitting mats, putting machines and most importantly, an innovative golf ball which plays with the characteristics of a regular ball yet is a quarter the weight and, most importantly, is safe.”
The owners are both certified teaching professionals. Conrad began his professional career teaching with Jimmy Ballard, first in Florida and then in the Boston area. He has been teaching golf for over 35 years, the last ten as a professional.
Walton recently attained his United States Golf Teaching Federation teaching certificate after completing a 30-year career with Sears, retiring as store manager in Charleston.
O.K. Golf is a for-profit minority-owned corporation. Conrad and Walton tell the children to have fun while they learn the game of golf. If you are interested in developing a program in your school or community, contact O.K. Golf at www.myokgolf.com.
When asked how SCORE counselor George Giles helped O.K. Golf get started, the pair replied: “He helped us focus on our goal and he showed us how to work together as partners in this venture. He guided us in making cash-flow projections for the first three years of operation. This venture would not have succeeded were it not for the expert counseling of George Giles.”
Ted Albenesius is a retired Charleston businessman and past chairman of the local Service Corps of Retired Executives chapter. The Charleston SCORE chapter can be contacted at (843) 727-4778 or www.score285.org.
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