Now that you are in business, you are likely learning all sorts of terms and business techniques that you might not have had to know about before. For many home business owners, getting a handle on marketing, advertising, and publicity can be one of the biggest and most foreign challenges. One term it would behoove you to understand is: “market conditions.”
Market condition refers to just what it sounds like—the conditions and realities of a specific market. A market can be defined either by product or field, or demographic, or geography. For your purposes, you basically want to know what is going on with the people who are most likely to be your customers or clients. But, what does that mean “What is going on?”
Well, things that affect the market conditions of your particular business might be geographical—as in weather, seasons, what is going on with local or regional economy, etc. It could also be economic shifts and changes—for example, if most of your customers come from a working, middle-class demographic, they may be spending more money on transportation costs with the rise in gasoline. With this, they have less discretionary income and may start by cutting back on “frivolous” purchases (like entertainment, restaurants, vacations, etc.) but may still be spending confidently on things they see as necessities. You can then figure out where your services or product fits into their “hierarchy” of purchases and expenditures.
Your market might also be affected by an aging populations, change in popular trends, technology, or any myriad shifts. By keeping a finger on the pulse of the changing market conditions, you’ll be able to adjust your business to meet the needs of your customers or clients, or change your business services or products to reflect changes in the market as a whole.
See Also: Offer Something New or Different