Researching Customers and Competitors

Collect useful evidence about demand before committing money to a business.

Part 2 of 10 | Starting a Small Business in The Gambia

Learning goals Conduct short customer interviews, compare alternatives fairly and decide whether the evidence supports your chosen idea. Your output is a research summary and a decision to continue, change or pause.

Before you begin Allow about two hours, including conversations. Bring your Part 1 idea sheet. Ask permission before interviewing or taking notes. Do not collect identity documents, account information or other sensitive details. You can practise by role-playing if suitable customers are unavailable, but label those answers as practice.

Ask about actual behaviour Useful research asks what people did recently. Try: When did you last need this service? Where did you go? What did you pay? What was difficult? What mattered most when choosing? Ask for an example before suggesting your own solution. A person saying your idea sounds nice may be encouraging you rather than describing a buying intention.

Avoid leading questions such as Would you prefer my reliable service to the bad shops? That wording invites agreement and insults competitors. Instead ask what worked and what did not. Record the customer's own meaning in simple notes, using anonymous labels such as Interview A. Let people decline and do not turn an interview into pressure to buy.

Reach people beyond friends and family Friends can help practise questions, but they may have different needs or may avoid disappointing you. Seek people who genuinely fit your proposed customer group. Speak to them at a suitable time and place without interrupting work. Where language is a barrier, use a trusted interpreter with the person's permission and check that the meaning remains accurate.

Five interviews are a useful beginner exercise, not a statistically representative survey. Write down who was missing, such as customers who live farther away or need work at different times. If all responses come from one small circle, your confidence should remain limited. Contradictory feedback helps reveal different groups and is not something to erase.

Study the alternatives customers already use A competitor may be another seller, a family member doing the job, an online option or the customer doing nothing. Compare three alternatives using the same fields: service scope, quoted price, location, delivery time, evidence of quality and conditions. Only use public information or information voluntarily provided. Do not pretend to be an official or request private records.

Record the date of every price and what it includes. A lower price may exclude delivery, materials or after-service help. Prices are not comparable until you compare the same task and conditions. Look for an unmet need you can serve sustainably rather than assuming that undercutting every competitor will create a healthy business.

Separate evidence from interpretation Awa interviews five potential customers. Three describe late collection, one wants a lower price and one already has a trusted tailor. Her evidence is what these people reported. Her interpretation is that a clear collection promise may matter to some customers. It would be misleading to claim that most people in The Gambia want her service from this small sample.

She plans a further check: show a specific offer and ask whether the scope, proposed price and collection arrangement fit a real upcoming need. An expression of interest is still not payment. Do not take money or accept orders until the business can lawfully and reliably fulfil them. A paper reservation of interest can test understanding without pretending to be a sale.

Guided exercise 1. Write five neutral questions about a recent purchase or unmet need. Read them aloud and remove wording that suggests the answer you want.

2. Interview five suitable people, or complete a labelled role-play. Record the relevant situation, alternative used, stated price if volunteered and main difficulty. Avoid recording names unless necessary and agreed.

3. Compare three alternatives with matching service scope. Leave a field marked unknown if you cannot verify it. Do not invent a price to complete the comparison.

4. Sort findings into evidence, interpretation and unanswered questions. Identify two repeated concerns and one response that challenges your original idea.

5. Write a decision paragraph. Continue if the need and your ability look promising, change the offer if a different problem is clearer, or pause if a major barrier remains. Give one reason and one next test.

Knowledge check 1. Why is asking about the last purchase usually more useful than asking whether someone likes an idea?

2. Can five interviews establish national market demand?

3. What must be checked before comparing two prices?

Answer guide 1. A recent action gives concrete evidence about needs, alternatives and spending; general approval may be politeness or speculation.

2. No. They support an initial local hypothesis. Record limitations and gather more evidence before major commitments.

3. Compare equivalent work, quantity, quality, delivery and other included costs, and note when each price was obtained.

Completion standard Submit five interview records, a comparison of three alternatives and an evidence-based decision. Clearly label simulations and unknowns. Explain all three answers without reading the guide. Use the findings to refine your offer in Part 3 rather than retaining an idea simply because it was your first choice.

Sources and verification notes

US Small Business Administration Plan your business. Checked 14 September 2026. General background for market research, startup costs and finance planning only. US programmes and legal rules do not apply to The Gambia; all course examples are independently constructed.