Business Intelligence and Market Research

'War is 90% information' - Napoleon

'For knowledge is itself power' - Bacon

'Know thyself' - the Delphic Oracle

'Risk is just lack of knowledge' - Chesapeake Analytics

Investors and business managers are faced with risk and uncertainty because they do not have perfect information upon which to make decisions.  Their knowledge is imperfect because information is expensive.  Risk results directly from lack of knowledge.   Investors greatly reward reduction of uncertainty.

Good business managers seek to measure and understand the competitive forces, the power of substitutes, and the buyer motivation and behavior that make up the demand curves their products will face.  In the auto industry, a mature sector where billions of dollars are at stake, hundreds of research firms measure every consumer whim.  Results can be predicted.  In the technology field, demand for well-established items such as cell phones, PCs, internet routers, RDBMS and SAP can similarly me measured and known.   But what about YOUR product or servics?

Most technological innovation, especially disruptive innovation, is happening in areas not under the scrutiny of market research firms with broad practices.  Without independent market research, how can you get investor support, or the proper valuation, or management approval?  How can you know yourself exactly how to position your product for an emerging market?

Hitting a Moving Target

At Chesapeake Analytics, we specialize in really tough cases of  business intelligence and market characterization in the technology sector.  Our clients are investors, venture capitalists, and business developers who need good answers for urgent questions about market viability, demand estimation, absorption rates, and buyer behavior.   All in the face of markets that are changing even as they are being measured.   And time is of the essence, because the first mover advantage is up in the air.   We at Chesapeake can understand the technology, and recognize a market-product match when we see one.  We know that often secondary market research won't be possible, and that primary research or surrogates will have to be used.

Sample Scope of Work

The scope of work that Chesapeake might use in a business intelligence assignment for your firm might look like the following: