Week 7: Market Size
Ugggh. The dreaded calculation of market size. Getting to a close certainty among the vagueness of it all.
“Understanding market size helps you distinguish between two categories: the addressable market, which is the total revenue opportunity for your product or service; and the available market, which is the portion of the addressable market for which you can realistically compete. By outlining the difference between these two, you can develop a product offering to tackle that consumer sweet spot” says Entrepreneur magazine.
A link to the full article. https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/how-to-estimate-market-size-business-and-marketing-planning-for-startups/1. Define your subsegment of the market.
- Define your subsegment of the market
Alcye’s subsegment: Non-traditional learning programs for adults that teach face-to-face that are one-to-many in ration. Only counting private and non-profits. No corporate — yet.
2. Conduct top-down market sizing
Training magazine says US training expense for 2017 was 90.6 billion — that is the corporate sector. This does not take into account all the private money people spend on upskilling themselves — which really is the market I’m looking at. This number also does not take into account non-profits.
3. Follow with bottom-up analysis
My marker segment is a bit hidden. So still trying to uncover it. Interviewing more non-profits and alumni networks. The upside is that it is a web platform, so we are not limited by geography. I’m working on the numbers now.
4. Look at the competition
Online groups: These work for resource questions: Like, “Here’s an article” [LinkedIn] or “I’m looking for an accountant” [Facebook].
Mentoring Groups/Apps: Mentors & Mentees [FB]. Apps: MentorMeet, MiMentor. Traditional Mentoring: Mentor Method, MentorTex, Aspire
Forums: Quora, Reddit
Community: Lithium, Communifire etc. Over 100 platforms out there.
So do I have a value prop? You bet I do!
5. Assess the static market size
Is everyone’s market static? Or do some have more fluctuating sizes?
Obviously, much more segmentation needs to be done. This is an ongoing process as I keep refining my customer, to see if I can include entities that do need a white-labeled platform.
I worked most of my Memorial Day weekend. Hope yours was better than mine!
Here’s an example of market size for AirBnB
