Your market consists of the consumers who will be buying your product. The market for a Mercedes Benz is different than the market for a Dodge Neon. Do not assume that the entire population of a region is a potential customer. Once you have in mind who will be your target market you can conduct an analysis of the market.

A. Description of Total Market
Statistics can be found www.stats.indiana.edu
The SBDC maintains a business library with statistical resources.
The local economic development office should have current stats available.

B. Industry Trends
Is the industry growing? How do you know there is a demand for your product or service?

C. Target Markets
It may be necessary to break down your total market into target market segments. It is possible to have only one target market. It will be dependent on the products and services that you offer. For example, product one will be for adult males, while product two will be for the adult female market.

D. Competition
Determining competitors requires research and the yellow pages is a good place to start. It may be necessary to look in more than one phone book however due to the various local phone carriers. Simply listing the names of the competition is not enough. Competitors have to be studied or investigated. What products do they offer? What is their pricing policy? Do not overlook the major players like Wal Mart or Internet companies.