How to Use Customer Feedback to Find New Opportunities

As with many industries, the world today looks overcrowded and people are still looking for opportunities and unique solutions that would help them stand out. But where are these opportunities? The answer often resides in white space markets, which are those customer segments which are currently untouched or are those segments that current solutions do not meet successfully. White space markets mean in a literal sense that no competitor has entered it and as a result, huge opportunities for new entrants and value creation exist.

Novelty and innovation when it comes to white space markets does not entail discovering the next big thing; it involves studying the existing market spaces, noting the voids that exist within those spaces, and using that knowledge to generate worthwhile formulas. Here in this blog, we’ll look at how to identify white space opportunities and how you can bring those ideas to life and create a sustainable business model for your start-up.

 

1. Understanding White Space Markets

White space refers to markets that have unmet needs or inefficiencies so that the idea of venture entrepreneurship can thrive. Such markets are not often targeted by incumbent players, thereby opening up opportunities for emerging players to present innovative ideas.

Some of the white spaces are created out of changes in industries and customers’ needs. For instance, with the shift to more workers working from home, new requirements for social interaction tools, means of collaboration, and workflow management emerged, opening up white spaces for the formation of software technologies.

To the entrepreneur, the white space markets in B2B marketing must be properly understood about where customers are experiencing the need for a particular product or service. Like identifying a new market or realizing there are untapped areas in new markets, it’s all about seeing what others do not.

 

2. Conducting Market Gap Analysis

A great approach to identifying white space opportunities is through executing market gap analysis. This is the process of assessing the present products and services with that of the market to identify the gaps that may be owing to poor service delivery. This could involve:

- Being on the lookout for problem areas that the existing products or services fail to address properly.

- Collecting data on customer visualization of products and services, and identifying customers’ unsatisfied needs.

- Focusing on industries or markets that are not heavily mature, in which customers are ready to have improved solutions.

Performing a market gap analysis means that one can be able to identify existing business opportunities that have growth prospects. It will also make it easier for you to highlight specific areas in which competitors are not delivering enough value and hence present new opportunities for differentiation.

For instance, startup ideas are discovered in these spaces by the entrepreneurs themselves. Recall Uber as an organisation that saw flaws in conventional taxi services while Airbnb realized that people were interested in unique kinds and forms of accommodation.

 

3. Innovative Business Models: The Key to Success

After you have established what a white space market is, the next step is to come up with an appropriate business model within the opportunity. White space markets are completely different from simply competitive markets because a lot of creativity can be employed in the case of the former, especially regarding the positioning of a product, the manner of reaching out to consumers or any strategic approach that may be employed.

Most entrepreneurs have embraced the concept of identifying a white space in particular industries and then applying new business models that revolutionalize such markets. For instance, Netflix moved from a DVD rental service to a streaming service and seized the previously unmet demand for online streaming entertainment.

When designing your business model, there are elements such as scalability, flexibility, and value proposition. Customers are attracted to white space markets through factors such as convenience, customized and significant improvements over traditional solutions. Adjusting your business model to these factors will enable you to differentiate your business.

 

4. Tapping into Emerging Markets

It must however be noted that white spaces are most opportunely found in the emerging markets. Such markets refer to geographical or product segments that are experiencing high growth rates but are relatively less developed than the mature markets. There is growth in many developed nations in Africa, Asia, and South America, although there are still numerous fields that are significantly lacking, which makes it strategic for business functionality.

New business can be a rewarding venture especially in the developing world due to sectors such as mobile money, online shopping and renewable energy. Opportunities to grow are enormous for entrepreneurs targeting these regions because the problems that entrepreneurs can solve are well-defined. But, to succeed in emerging markets, they have to consider and adjust to cultural and regulatory peculiarities and customers’ tendencies. When searching for information and investing in local players it can dramatically change the situation.

 

5. Leveraging Technology for Innovation

Technology is helpful to businessmen in identifying white space markets and making use of them. As we have seen, major leaps in fields such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics enable many businesses to analyse consumers and market dynamics in real-time.

For instance, Google trends and social media monitoring tools assist entrepreneurs in assessing unexplored market opportunities based on customer preferences. These insights give a competitive advantage since one can change their business model to suit the dynamic needs. In addition, new technologies such as blockchain, virtual reality, and 5G thus open up new white spaces and offer businesses the opportunity to create solutions that wouldn’t have been possible before.

 

6. Fostering a Culture of Continuous Innovation

For new business to be discovered and sustained in the white space markets, one has to promote innovation as a continuous process. This means remaining curious and being ready to listen to new thinking, all whilst encouraging others to be innovative within your business. In this case, it is necessary to note that the white space market is rather a risky area, so it is possible to mention that only those businesspersons who are ready for experimentation and if necessary, changes may succeed in this market.

Getting your team to think creatively, experimenting with ideas wanting to be quick in adapting to market changes is part of being an entrepreneur. In an ever-increasing competitive environment, only companies with a progressive attitude towards change can find opportunities which lie ahead.

 

Conclusion

White space markets present a great opportunity for new-generation entrepreneurship. By performing a market gap and thereby segmenting and analyzing markets, seeking key market opportunities and creating unique business concepts, customers walk hand-in-hand with relevant and uncharted business ideas. As we’ve highlighted before, it’s all about identifying hidden or underserved customer needs and delivering solutions that add sufficient value.

In the current business environment, opportunities are created where other people do not even see them. When you start your entrepreneurial voyage, keep questioning, start implementing technology, and be versatile. Through the continuous identification and appropriate exploitation of the white space.