Gathering Information and Analysing the Competition

Explain what information each source can give you and when to use it: survey, in-depth interview, direct observation, and internet search. Apply it to this project: a healthy breakfast stall at the school fair.

Distinguish fact from opinion with these examples from research into the canteen: (a) '$60\ \%$ of students don't finish their second course'; (b) 'the canteen food is bad'; (c) 'on Tuesdays there are $15$ kg more leftovers than on Thursdays'. Explain why you need data and not just opinions to decide, and how you would turn opinion (b) into something measurable.

Your team wants to sell smoothies at the fair. List three things you could find out by observing (without asking anyone) last year's fair: the busiest queue times, which stalls sold out, which products were left over, prices people paid without flinching. Explain what advantage observation has over the survey.

Distinguish between direct and indirect competition using this case: a fresh juice stall at the fair. Its direct competition would be another drink stall; its indirect competition would be the hallway vending machine or a water bottle brought from home. Add two examples of your own of indirect competition for a study notes app.

The figure is a positioning map of the drink stalls at the fair based on their price and how healthy their product offering is. Points A, B, and C are existing stalls; the question mark marks an empty area.

1. a) Describe where the gap in the market is according to the map (what combination of price and healthy offering no one is covering).
2. b) Propose a product for that gap and explain what you should check before launching (why is it empty?).

At the school market, there are two costume jewellery stalls: yours sells handmade bracelets for $3\ \text{€}$, and the other sells bracelets for $2\ \text{€}$ bought from an online shop and relabelled. Last year, the cheaper stall sold twice as much.

1. a) Analyse your competitor: what advantage do they have, what is yours, and which type of buyer does each appeal to?
2. b) Propose two differentiation strategies other than lowering the price, and explain why competing on price alone would be a bad idea for you.

Conduct a SWOT analysis for your class project (choose a real one or the breakfast stall): two weaknesses, two strengths, two opportunities, and two threats. Then cross-reference the information: write a strategy that uses a strength to take advantage of an opportunity, and another that defends a weakness against a threat.

Do the SWOT analysis of this project: 'hiring out footballs and board games at break times, run by students with reward points'. Write two weaknesses, two strengths, two opportunities and two threats, and then cross-reference them: an SO strategy (using a strength to seize an opportunity) and a WT strategy (defending a weakness against a threat).

Explain what a potential customer is and why 'everyone' is not a valid answer to the question 'who are you selling to?'. Define the potential customer of these three school projects: a coffee stall, an entrepreneurship workshop for parents, and a sixth-form notes app.

Explain what a market niche is (a small group with a specific, poorly served need) and identify the niche of these products: sunglasses for dogs, gluten-free breakfasts at the fair, skateboarding lessons for the over-$40$s. Why can a niche be a good entry door for a small project?

A team wants to set up a gourmet sandwich stall at the district fair. Its competition analysis: $6$ food stalls last year, all standard fast food, prices between $2\ \text{€}$ and $3,50\ \text{€}$, $15$-minute queues at lunchtime and complaints about the lack of vegetarian options.

1. a) Sum up the analysis in one opportunity sentence: what gap there is, for whom and with what promise.
2. b) Design two cheap experiments before the fair to check the gap is real (a trial menu at break time, a pre-sale among teachers) and what result you would measure in each.