I am going to design a questionnaire in order to find out what facilities people want in a local shopping area. Once I find out what their wishes are I will to set up my own business, which I hope will meet their requirements, and therefore be a success. I will be using two main methods to work out what we need in Ballyhackamore. 1. Field Research, which involves the collection of Primary data i.e. information, which no one else has collected before, usually through observation or survey or experiment.

2. Desk research. Which involves the use of secondary data – i.e. information already available, both within and outside of the business. E.g. industry journals, newspapers and the Internet. So this week I will design my questionnaire. I am using a questionnaire because I can ask exactly what I need to know. Information can be written down very easily, thus getting more questionnaires filled in a given time period, so I have a better idea of what the public think is missing.

Week 2. This week I am going to carry out the survey to discover what type of business the public want to see in the area. I have decided against the use of postal surveys, as there tends to be a very poor response to them: however they can be relatively economic – just the price of a stamp, or two if supplying a stamped return envelope. I also decided not to undertake a telephone survey, as not only is it expensive, but I would like to meet my potential customers in my chosen location face to face.

I will use a random sample of shoppers and hopefully some employees of other businesses in the area as I hope this will throw up a mix of age, occupation and sexes. Another form of sampling is known as “systematic sampling” where for example, every tenth, hundredth of thousandth person in say an electoral role or telephone directory is selected. I will go into our local area near to our school to undertake my Primary Research. This is also known as Field Research. It is the easiest and best way to find out what the public want. It is also the most up to date way to get information.

If I use secondary information/desk research this would be unhelpful because the information contained in it would very soon go out of date. Out of date information will not aid me in my aim of setting up a successful business. However I may research the Yellow Pages to find out if there is any competition in the local area. I could also look at the Electoral Register for the local area. This is to find out the mix of population i.e. more young married people or older retired single folks.

Week 3 I will gather up all my information from my questionnaires and evaluate it using a database. This is the easiest way of displaying data and aids the decision process by setting out the information in an organised fashion. Many things can be achieved with a database – I can do queries and searches and set information out in a graph form. I will use Microsoft Access to store my information from the questionnaires.

Week 4 This week I am going to gather my results and analyse them. This will make it easier for me to see which business would suit the area best and then from that I will be able to go on and try to find suitable premises and work on loans and the financial factors in setting up my business in later weeks.

Week 5 Now that I have decided on my business, I am now going to find suitable premises. I will go to estate agents in the surrounding area and select a range of brochures, then check the Internet for other appropriate premises and scan the local press for any additional details. When deciding on my premises I will have to keep my financial situation at the back of my mind. I mean I could not hope to set up my business in premises that would cost me a million pounds, even if they were perfect for my business. The constraint of finance will obviously affect my choice of premises.