You would think that a huge franchise supermarket and a solo business owner wouldn’t have much in common. The differences are vast, including staffing, budget, expenses, inventory, marketing, budgeting, personal attention and about a few thousand more issues. Yet there are some foundational pieces that are absolutely the same, it’s just that the large franchise understands aspects that the small business owner does not. And because of that- and their research and development- the large franchise is able to improve and grow while using their research to avoid risky failures in the future. Where we live in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, the growth is astounding. We moved into our home in September of 2021, and I noticed construction on a side road had just begun. A month later, a full four-lane road was built and opened. I joked that I remembered a time way back when there was no road here. Around six months ago, a new Publix supermarket opened not far away. With that, a slew of new stores in and around the supermarket opened as well. At that time, I was talking with someone who had started a business that had him frustrated. He had planned it out in his mind, gotten a website and logo, hired someone to do social media and spent a little money on advertising. Yet with all of those steps, he was finding little interest from potential customers. It’s hard not to get discouraged in that situation. Especially when you come from the world of traditional employment where someone hires you for a job and you do the work they need to get done. It’s the same for many creative entrepreneurs, authors, podcasters and the like. They ask the same question. Why aren’t people showing up? I thought back to the opening of Publix. The store opened a few months earlier, and every time I go to it, the place is packed. I looked around the store and saw how there were tons of perishables that, if not sold, would go bad. That would be a huge loss and financial disaster for the company. Yet for the past year, I have watched the land develop, construction taking place daily, buildings erected, parking lots paved, employees hired and merchandise brought in. That is a tremendous amount of cost and labor for something that hasn’t brought in any income yet. How could they be so confident that millions of dollars wouldn’t be lost and thousands of hours of labor wasted? As all of that went up, their projections showed that not only wouldn’t it be a loss, but it would render a huge profit on a consistent basis. What did they do that most solopreneurs and small business owners do not do? Market research. Now, if Publix morphed into a small business owner, do you think they would start creating an online course if they didn’t think they know the right people would have interest in it? Do you think they would say, “We’ll, it’s an interesting story to me so I’m going to spend a year of my life on this?” Do you believe Publix would start a membership, or a podcast, or spend a year building a product if they did no market research beforehand? Of course not. Their decisions are just made on a grander scale, but the song remains the same. I can guarantee that they didn’t just decide to buy a plot of land on Highway 64 and decide to spend a boatload of money on a supermarket that wouldn’t get the proper foot traffic needed. No, they did what successful, long-term businesses do. They asked questions. Where is the population moving to? What area is underserved? Where does the traffic come from? What can we improve on from our previous stores? What is the cost of the land? What is the cost of labor? What are the businesses going to be that go in next to us? They didn’t just start doing work to then see what happened. But this is why Publix is already one of the most successful in their franchise and why so many small business owners either stop, pivot or go out of business so quickly. They fail to do their market research. Our latest offer is Total Life Freedom School. It wasn’t just an idea that we thought of and rushed out to launch it under the true but often overused phrase of “done is better than perfect.” In many ways, that is accurate. But when it comes to launching a business or new venture, it’s easier now than ever and too many are getting too sloppy in their inception. The seeds of Total Life Freedom School were planted about a year ago when we saw that there were people who needed our guidance but weren’t a fit for either Total Life Freedom Community Mastermind or the more exclusive Elite Mastermind. Instead of launching something half baked, like we have often in the past, we began to do market research. Even though it took time each week, I got on phone calls weekly to discuss the idea with followers, readers and listeners of my work. I messaged people I know in business who weren’t followers. Elizabeth did tons of research on the tech and backend work. It took more time than we would have liked, but we knew it was necessary. And the questions we asked were vital. What do you think about the price point? How is the messaging? Does it make sense and is it clear? If you didn’t know me, would this be confusing? How would you see the content delivered? What do you think about these affiliate offers? Is this something you would recommend to a friend? I asked tons of questions. They gave tons of answers. Many were gracious but didn’t see an interest for themselves. A good number of them not only saw the value, but asked to join the waiting list. Each step of the way, my delivery explaining something that wasn’t even a thing yet became more in tune. The words that I said randomly at first eventually became what is written on the landing page and explained in the videos. A month into the school, there are more than 100 students inside. And with continued market research and learning from businesses like Publix, we are aiming for 1000 students within a year. In 2023, it’s so easy to start. Fifteen years ago, it was hard to publish a book. It was time-consuming to start a podcast. It took so much work to get a website up to start a business. It doesn’t take much to start building a platform these days. But with so much content, noise, and dare I say- lack of quality- abundant these days, the idea of deeper market research isn’t just for the big businesses any longer. It’s for all of us small business owners and solopreneurs as well. Market research doesn’t just happen before we start something. Although I would contend that most small business owners do too little at that point as well. But market research continues well after we’ve launched a business. It helps us keep our pulse on the work we are doing and the impact it is having on the customers that we are helping. It allows us to stay ahead of problems. And most importantly, it allows us to stay in business. Have an AMAZING day! Vincent | 
