A market analysis is an assessment of any given market that includes both qualitative and quantitative research. Conducting a thorough market analysis as a key piece of your business plan ensures that you know everything there is to know about your market.

Coincidentally, it reassures any current or future investors that you know what you’re doing, that you’ve done you’re homework and that you’re the right entrepreneur to address the gap in this particular market.

HOW TO CONDUCT A MARKET ANALYSIS

But — in order to conduct a thorough market analysis — you need to cover a wide range of topics. Before diving into the specifics, remember that at its core, a market analysis is about learning the most you can about your market.

You’ll discover w...

When you're in charge of a business, you're all too familiar with that feeling of racing to catch up. But no matter how hard you push or how much you work, you never seem to reach the finish line.

There's always more marketing to do, more emails to send, another meeting around the corner, more prospects to qualify…

Terminal “behinderness” is an affliction that generates heart-pounding stress and makes you wonder how the most successful founders and leaders manage to be so productive while you feel like you're constantly drowning.

A lot of it comes down to how they structure their days.

Curious about how some of the top business leaders spent their time, John Rampton (CEO of Due) and Chris Stowell (VP of the International Center for Management a...

John Tabis was doing fine at his old job. More than fine, actually: he was Director of Corporate Brand Development at Disney.

But instead of continuing to rock the cushy corporate life, John teamed up with his friend Juan Pablo (JP) Montufar-Arroyo and launched The Bouqs, an online flower delivery company. Neither of them had very much money so they went to friends and family and pulled together $13,000 to get started.

That was four years ago. Today, they’re working with nearly $20 million in VC money — and John definitely doesn’t miss Disney.

A native Ecuadorian who grew up on a rose farm, JP witnessed firsthand the low prices, slow payment, and rampant waste that plague the traditional flower supply chain. And on the online branding side ...

There are a lot of options when it comes to startup funding. And sometimes those different options can overlap — or at least seem to. That’s the case with private equity and venture capital.

What’s the difference between venture capital and private equity?

The biggest differences, traditionally, between VC and private equity are the stage of the company they invest in and the type of growth they’re looking for. Venture capital tends to go for early stage, higher risk companies with potential for “hockey stick” growth, which is when a company goes from nothing to everything, super fast. Private equity, on the other hand, is interested in companies that have already established themselves, but need more capital in order to thrive.

Another bi...

What is venture capital?

Venture capital is financing that’s invested in startups and small businesses that are usually high risk, but also have the potential for exponential growth.

The goal of a venture capital investment is a very high return for the venture capital firm, usually in the form of an acquisition of the startup or an IPO.

Why would you want to use venture capital?

Venture capital is a great option for startups that are looking to scale big — and quickly. Because the investments are fairly large, your startup has to be prepared to take that money and grow.

Advantages of working with venture capitalist firms

The biggest advantage of working with venture capital firms is that if your startup goes under — as most do — you’re no...

When we think of marketing it can sometimes be hard to look past buzzwords like “engagement” or “virality.” However, these factors don’t get at the true objective. The real factors to be considered are those directly impacting the company’s bottom line in a clear and measurable way.

To put this into perspective, in a study conducted by Econsultancy, only about 22 percent of businesses were satisfied with their conversion rates from online marketing campaigns, indicating that standard factors, such as clicks, likes and shares, do not necessarily translate to earnings. Moreover, another study found that if marketers had a greater ability to track return on investment (ROI), over 75 percent would increase their marketing spend.

Therefore, in ...

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of a startup name — which is why naming a business can feel so harrowing. A great name can help push your company to the next level, but a terrible one can sink you before you even started. So how do you find a great business name?

While there probably are as many approaches to coming up with a company name as there are failed startups, one great place to start is with idea generators. These quick, handy online tools spit out word combinations that can be a great jumping off point for you and your team.

Once you’ve found a company name you like, you can use the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) to find out whether or not a business name has been trademarked. You should also use ICANN WHOIS to...

Who are angel investors?

Angel investors are typically high net worth individuals who invest very early into the formation of a new startup company, usually in exchange for convertible debt or equity. Angel investors serve as a critical bridge between the very early stages of a startup and financing they’ll get later on. That’s because angels are much more likely than other types of investors to take on high risk investments without much proof of return. In other words, they’re betting on you and your idea — not your metrics.

Angel investors tend to invest in companies that are in industries they know a lot about. So, for example, if an angel investor made a lot of money in the real estate industry, you can imagine they would be most comfor...

Intro to using experts to validate your startup ideas

Now that we know there is an opportunity in the market for our startup idea, we want to get some expert advice on how to approach that problem, target market, and industry.

Think of this phase as asking your college professor what the answers to the idea validation test are before you ever start the course.

In almost every case there are experts out there that know many of the answers you're looking for and are willing to share that information with you.

The challenge is to find the right experts and present them with very specific questions about your business idea, and in return get highly specific feedback.

Their feedback can help shortcut the market validation process, market research, ev...

Many retailers are looking to establish an international e-commerce presence, whether sourcing goods from abroad or selling goods in a new country. Research from Pitney Bowes found that an impressive two-thirds of consumers have made an international purchase, and almost a third do so once a month or more. DHL has predicted a 25 percent increase in cross-border retail volumes between 2015 and 2020, amounting to a hefty $900 billion market.

It’s natural for retailers to try to cut out a piece of this pie, but my experience at eBay and Tophatter has taught me that it typically requires a substantial investment. Establishing cross-border trade takes trial and error — getting it right almost always requires making lots of mistakes along the way...