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Good market research answers three questions: how big is the opportunity, who pays, and why will they choose you?
Step 1 – Define the market
- TAM: everyone who could buy, multiplied by price.
- SAM: the part you can serve with your product, channels and regions.
- SOM: what you can realistically win in 3–5 years, limited by sales capacity, capital and capacity to deliver.
Build the numbers bottom-up (customers you can reach × realistic price × conversion). Investors discount “1% of a billion-dollar market”.
Step 2 – Use credible sources
- Statistics Canada and U.S. Census data; industry association reports.
- Government and regulator publications for your sector.
- Company filings and funding announcements for competitors.
- Public procurement portals (CanadaBuys, MERX, municipal and provincial tenders) to size government demand.
- Your own interviews, surveys and pilot data. Primary evidence beats any report.
Step 3 – Segment customers and decision makers
| Segment | Who decides | What they want |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers | Individuals and households | Convenience, price, trust, brand |
| Small and medium businesses | Owners, operations managers | Saves time or money fast, simple to adopt |
| Enterprise | Department heads, procurement, IT/security | Integration, reliability, security, references |
| Government and institutions | Program managers, procurement | Compliance, public value, cost certainty |
| Healthcare / regulated buyers | Clinical and compliance leads | Evidence, safety, approvals |
Step 4 – Competitive landscape
Map direct competitors, substitutes (including “do nothing” and spreadsheets) and new entrants. Compare price, features, customer experience, channels, funding and weaknesses. Show a clear why now: a technology shift, a rule change, a cost drop or a behaviour change.
Step 5 – Validate with primary research
- 20–40 structured customer interviews.
- Pre-sales, paid pilots, waitlists with a deposit, letters of intent.
- Quantify willingness to pay, sales cycle, contract size and switching barriers.
Sector spotlight: cleantech and waste. Size the tonnes of the waste stream, the tipping fees you replace, the price of recovered products, and the policy drivers (landfill limits, extended producer responsibility, carbon pricing, recycled-content rules).