Entrepreneur Support Organisations

Why Entrepreneur Support Organisations should conduct surveys

Why Entrepreneur Support Organisations should conduct surveys, and the

Importance of Market Research by Startups supported by E.S.O’s.

The goal of conducting research by Entrepreneur Support Organisations (E.S.O’s), be it incubators, accelerators or hubs is to be able to support startups with data and information that can be used to better understand their customers and the market landscape. This is crucial for startups to reduce their chances of failure.

Additionally, E.S.O’s have access to a network of startups that are solving critical problems, and sharing insights and discussing them amongst startups can birth new ideas and strategies for execution. Regular surveys and market research can also help build available resources for the E.S.O, while providing valuable data for Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, Funders and Partners.

Startups need to talk to their customers. Understanding the needs and desires of your target audience is crucial to the success of any business. By speaking directly with their customers, startups can gain valuable insights into their customer’s pain points, preferences, and expectations, which can inform product development, marketing strategies, and overall business decisions. This reduces their chances of failure.

Collaboration - Help startups work together. As an Entrepreneur Support Organisation (ESO), you have access to a network of startups that are solving critical problems, and many of them have the similar root causes. Conducting a survey for a certain sector, and sharing that insight and discussing it amongst startups will birth new ideas and strategies for execution, as well as help struggling startups to pivot.

Build available resources for the E.S.O. Conducting regular surveys and market research allows E.S.O’s to build resources that can be added to their resource centre. There is not a lot of available, accurate and up-to-date data in most African markets. Private companies pay a lot of money to buy reports, or spend a lot of money in conducting their own research, which they then keep confidential. By conducting your own research, reports can be made available for startups, investors, private companies as well as government organisations.

Feedback for Monitoring and Evaluation. Considerable amounts of money are spent on Entrepreneur Support Organisations in the quest of stimulating innovation and building scalable businesses. Measurement of the programs run should be conducted. E.S.O’s should consider getting feedback from their startups to better understand their needs and the effectiveness of their support. Gathering feedback can be done through surveys, and can provide valuable insights into areas for improvement as well as potential new services to offer. Feedback can also be used to build stronger relationships with startups and create a culture of collaboration and mutual support.