Any company planning to launch a new product or service would benefit from conducting research on how potential customers will receive it. But this is out of reach for most startups and small businesses, which tend not to have enough money for market research in their budgets.
That doesn't make sense since most American businesses are small, says the owner of Paradigm2, which recently moved from Ohio to West Reading. The research company founded by Wil Readinger, a native of the Reading area, focuses on startups and small businesses, like technology firms, doctors' offices and small retailers.
Kevin Gabbard, lead research analyst at Paradigm2, says his company is different from others because it studies how people choose different products or services rather than just figuring out which ones they prefer. This is more cost-effective because clients don't have to go through the research process every time their product or service changes, he says.
Paradigm2's process starts with an initial study of a company's competitors and how many others are in the same niche. Then it conducts in-depth interviews with possible customers about how they choose which products they use and how they expect to use them. The company's studies also include research on how potential customers feel about paying certain prices for a product or service and how to reach the marketplace most effectively.
Gabbard says his business worked with a venture capital group and its portfolio companies in Ohio and hopes to do the same in its new home. “They're the innovators, and they're the people who are in this critical period,” he says.
Source: Kevin Gabbard, Paradigm2
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen