Is your market made up of consumers? People who use your products or services for themselves? Or does your market include wholesalers and retailers? And what is the socio-economic profile of your customers?

Answers to these questions will help you determine how your business offering should be packaged, priced and presented – answers you may have got through drawing up your business plan. Without answers, you could be producing goods, at high cost, for a market that simply isn't there.

Business Partners have good advice for startups – first, determine what your market profile, and then determine the size of this market. This will give you a fair idea of the quantities you need to produce, how to package your offering and where and how to offer it.