Laserfiche WebLink
should look for useful skills such as experience with surveys, marketing, real estate, <br /> , • computers,or demographics. <br /> ) <br /> Team members could include: <br /> • business and property owners <br /> • realtors,accountants,attorneys,bankers <br /> • planning/economic development staff from the city or local utilities <br /> • college professors and their classes <br /> • interested community residents <br /> j The business development team will be made up of five to ten community residents,plus a <br /> number of other volunteers for specific projects like surveys and inventories.The team will need <br /> to meet regularly(allow two to three hours for these meetings)to review information and plan <br /> ) the next steps. <br /> 3 StaffAssistance <br /> j The team will need assistance from a staff person who can spend several hours a week <br /> coordinating the project.Good resources for staff assistance include the downtown manager or <br /> staff from the city,chamber of commerce,or other economic development organizations. <br /> ) • <br /> ) Budget <br /> ) The team will need a budget for maps,consumer surveys,professional assistance,printing,and <br /> mailing. <br /> About Professional Assistance <br /> The community could hire a professional to provide a complete market analysis.However,the <br /> ability to use and update the data after the consultant is gone is directly related to the amount of <br /> participation in the analysis by the community.By doing some of the data collection and analysis <br /> itself,a community develops the tools to become a pro-active economic development team, <br /> instead of remaining a victim of economic change. <br /> The team could consider seeking the assistance of a professional: <br /> • to assist in the development,administration and analysis of consumer surveys,because <br /> technical expertise is necessary to design good questions and get accurate responses; <br /> • to check the results of calculations and demographic analysis because Census data is easy <br /> to confuse due to its complexity; <br /> • to deal with a market that is particularly complex or is difficult to define,such as that of <br /> a small community in a rapidly growing or shrinking metro area;and <br /> 7 • • to provide an expert sounding board to review market opportunity conclusions after the <br /> completion of each step. <br /> STEP BY STEP MARKET ANALYSIS-V <br /> 7 <br />