How to Identify Gaps in the Market for Your Small Business

Many companies find their success when they can identify the market gap in their business... A market gap is an opportunity camouflaged as a problem. The competition is typically low for a market gap, as your competitors have not yet figured out a solution to the market gap at hand. Here are three tips to identify the market gap in your small business and to benefit from the opportunities surrounding it:

1. Recognize Problems in the Market—As stated above, a market gap is an opportunity camouflaged as a problem... Once you recognize the problems in your market, it will be easier to identify specific market gaps and to find the answer to these unsolved problems... The answers to these issues are your key to your specific market gap.
2. Add Your Own Flair—An easy way to identify gaps in the market for your small business is to add your own flair to a product or service. If you see that someone has already effectively filled a gap in a certain market and that process would work for your own market, you could try to reinvent that success by offering a better, enhanced solution.
3. Utilize Customer Feedback—Consider asking customers for feedback. See what issues they're having with products or services in your market and what they think could make it better.