Business · Topic 1: Investigating small business
Spotting a business opportunity
What customers need, how businesses find out through market research, how a market is divided into segments, how market maps reveal gaps, and how competition shapes a business's decisions.
Lessons
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1
Customer needs
Customers buy what meets their needs: the right price, the right quality, enough choice and convenience. A business that understands those needs makes sales…
6 terms -
2
Market research
Market research is how a business finds out what customers need and what competitors offer. It can be primary or secondary, produce qualitative or quantitative…
9 terms -
3
Market segmentation
Not every customer wants the same thing, so businesses divide a market into segments - by location, demographics, lifestyle, income and age - and target the…
6 terms -
4
Market mapping
A market map plots the businesses in a market against two features customers care about, showing where competitors sit and where there might be a gap. It is…
5 terms -
5
The competitive environment
Every business has competitors. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses - on price, quality, location, product range and customer service - shapes almost…
6 terms
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- Customer needs.pptx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Customer needs - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Customer needs - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market research.pptx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market research - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market research - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market segmentation.pptx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market segmentation - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market segmentation - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market mapping.pptx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market mapping - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- Market mapping - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- The competitive environment.pptx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- The competitive environment - Completed Notes.docx The full notes for the lesson, to revise from. Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
- The competitive environment - Exam Questions.docx Built from the lesson script on 24 September 2026. View
Key terms in this chapter
All 32, gathered from every lesson.
- Customer
- A person or business that buys a product.
- Consumer
- The person who uses a product. They may not be the customer who bought it.
- Customer needs
- What customers require from a product: the right price, quality, choice and convenience.
- Value for money
- When customers feel the benefits of a product are worth the price they pay.
- Convenience
- How quick and easy it is for customers to buy and use a product.
- Customer loyalty
- When customers keep buying from the same business rather than switching to competitors.
- Market research
- Collecting information about customers, competitors and the market to help make business decisions.
- Primary research
- New information collected first-hand by the business. Also called field research.
- Secondary research
- Information that already exists, collected by someone else. Also called desk research.
- Quantitative data
- Numerical data that can be counted and measured.
- Qualitative data
- Data about opinions, feelings and reasons.
- Focus group
- A small group of customers who discuss a product in depth.
- Sample
- The group of people chosen to take part in market research.
- Bias
- When research results are distorted, so they do not give a true picture of the market.
- Reliability
- How far the results of market research can be trusted.
- Market
- All the customers who might buy a type of product.
- Market segment
- A group of customers within a market who share similar characteristics and needs.
- Market segmentation
- Dividing a market into segments of customers with similar needs.
- Target market
- The segment a business aims its product and marketing at.
- Demographics
- Characteristics of the population, such as gender, family size, ethnicity and occupation.
- Lifestyle
- How customers live: their hobbies, interests and attitudes.
- Market map
- A diagram that plots the businesses or products in a market against two features, such as price and quality.
- Axis
- One of the two lines on a market map, each showing a feature from low to high.
- Gap in the market
- An area of a market where customers' needs are not being met by any business.
- Positioning
- Where a business places its product in the market compared with competitors.
- Competitor
- Another business selling similar products to the same customers.
- Competitive environment
- The strength and number of businesses competing in the same market.
- Competitor
- Another business selling similar products to the same customers.
- Direct competitor
- A business selling the same kind of product to the same customers.
- Indirect competitor
- A business selling a different product that meets the same customer need.
- Product range
- The variety of products a business offers.
- Customer service
- How a business treats its customers before, during and after a sale.