How to Do Market Research for a Business Plan (Step-by-Step Guide)

Dragana Todorovska
Sep 5, 2025
4 min read

Creating a business plan without research is like driving with your eyes closed. Market research shows you if there’s demand, who your customers are, and how you can stand out from the competition. Whether you’re seeking a loan, pitching investors, or validating a new idea, proper research makes your plan credible.

Before you write a business plan, you need proof: real market size, real competitors, real customers, and realistic projections. This guide shows you exactly how to get that evidence—fast—and turn it into TAM/SAM/SOM and SWOT that lenders and investors trust.

Step 1 — Size the Market (2024+ sources only)

Start by quantifying the market you’re entering. If you’re researching, say, the AI platform space, search specifically for “AI platform market size 2024” or “2025” and prioritize respected analysts and government data. Most credible market-size pages also summarize trends, key players, customers, and obstacles, which you’ll reuse later.

Where to look (use the newest report you can find):

Analyst & research firms: Statista, Grand View Research, Gartner, IDC, Forrester, Everest Group, 451 Research, S&P Global/451, McKinsey, BCG, Bain.
Government & official stats: U.S. Census, BLS, BEA, Eurostat, national statistics offices.
Academic/industry indices: Stanford AI Index, OECD digital economy reports.
High-quality industry publishers: IEEE, ACM (for tech trends), industry associations.

Pro moves

Add “site:” operators to force reputable domains (e.g., AI platform market size 2024 site:idc.com OR site:gartner.com).
Save the publication date and methodology snippet for your citations and assumptions log.

Step 2 — Map the Competitive Landscape & Funding Benchmarks

Once you’ve captured the market’s size and trend, list the key players that appear repeatedly across those reports. Now dig into each company to benchmark funding, traction, and positioning.

Platforms to research competitors (use several for triangulation):

Crunchbase (funding rounds, investors, acquisitions)
PitchBook, CB Insights, Dealroom, Tracxn (deep investment & company data)
Owler (competitors, estimates), Similarweb (traffic trends), BuiltWith/Wappalyzer (tech stack)
LinkedIn (headcount growth over time, hiring velocity)
RocketReach (useful for contacts and team roles; pair with LinkedIn to gauge sales/org scale)

Why it matters

You’ll see how much capital leaders have raised and at what stage, which helps you set a reasonable funding ask relative to your size, traction, and projections.
You’ll also learn who serves which segments and how they position their offers—critical for your USP and go-to-market.

Step 3 — Identify Customer Segments (Start narrow, then diversify)

Your market-size sources and competitor scans will hint at who buys and why. Combine that with search-demand tools to nail down segmentable needs.

Tools to validate segments quickly:

Google Trends (interest over time and by sub-region; “Related queries” reveal language buyers use)
Google Keyword Planner and SearchVolume.com (estimate monthly search demand)
AnswerThePublic / AlsoAsked (the exact questions people type)

Plan of attack

Pick one specific segment first.
Craft messaging, pricing, and a sales motion for that segment.
Expand to adjacent segments once you’ve proven conversion and delivery.

Step 4 — Turn Research Into Numbers: TAM, SAM, SOM

With market size, competitors, and segments in hand, quantify your opportunity.

TAM (Total Addressable Market): The full revenue or customer count if you captured everyone in your defined category/geography.
SAM (Serviceable Available Market): The slice you can realistically serve with your current model (e.g., English-speaking North America, or only mid-market buyers).
SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): Your near-term share of SAM (e.g., 1–2 years), grounded in realistic capacity, pricing, and conversion.

Simple formula starter (customize to your case):

TAM (revenue) ≈ (# of target organizations) × (% who buy) × (avg annual spend)
SAM ≈ TAM narrowed by your geography, industry focus, channel reach
SOM ≈ SAM × conservative share (based on your pipeline capacity and sales cycle)

Document every assumption and cite the source/date (2024+).

Step 5 — Build a SWOT From Real Evidence

Use what you’ve gathered to populate a concise SWOT.

Strengths: What you can do measurably better (speed, cost, domain expertise, integrations).
Weaknesses: Where you trail incumbents (brand awareness, certifications, features).
Opportunities: Growing sub-segments, underserved regions, new regulations creating demand, partner ecosystems.
Threats: Heavy-funded rivals, platform dependency, procurement friction, privacy/security hurdles.

Tie each bullet to a data point (e.g., Trend lines, market-share notes, buyer quotes, analyst predictions).

Step 6 — Sanity-Check Your Funding Ask & Projections

Use your competitor funding benchmarks and your SOM to avoid over- or under-asking.

A quick, investor-friendly approach

Runway math: Target 18–24 months runway.Funding need ≈ (Monthly burn × 24) + buffer − expected non-dilutive funding.
Milestones: Tie the ask to outcomes (e.g., SOC 2 + 3 enterprise logos + $X ARR).
Comparables: Show similar-stage companies’ raises and headcount to justify efficiency.

Ground your revenue forecast in: (a) validated demand (search + pipeline), (b) conversion rates, (c) price points, and (d) capacity to deliver.

Step 7 — Packaging Your Findings in the Plan

Drop your research into the sections lenders and investors scan first:

Market Analysis: market size (TAM/SAM/SOM), growth rate, key trends (2024+ sources).
Customer Analysis: primary segment, jobs-to-be-done, buying triggers, budget ranges.
Competitive Landscape: top players, positioning, funding, your differentiator.
Go-to-Market: keywords, segments, channels, partner strategy, early ads/tests.
Financial Plan: pricing tiers, unit economics, forecast assumptions, funding ask.
SWOT: crisp table with data-tied bullets.

Quick Reference — Best Sources by Task

Task	Primary Sources (prefer 2024+)	What you’ll capture
Market size & trends	Gartner, IDC, Forrester, S&P Global/451, McKinsey/BCG/Bain; Census/BLS/Eurostat; Stanford AI Index	Category size, CAGR, drivers, constraints, key players
Competitor & funding	Crunchbase, PitchBook, CB Insights, Dealroom, Tracxn; LinkedIn, Owler, Similarweb, BuiltWith/Wappalyzer; RocketReach (contacts/org roles)	Funding rounds, investors, traction signals, tech stack, team scale
Customer demand & language	Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, SearchVolume.com, AnswerThePublic/AlsoAsked	Exact queries, seasonality, regions, intent
Validation	Landing page (Carrd/Webflow/Wix), Google Ads/Microsoft Ads, GA4	Click-through, conversion, early pipeline proof

Example: If You Were Researching “AI Platforms”

Search “AI platform market size 2024/2025” → capture size, CAGR, leaders, adoption barriers.
Pull leaders into Crunchbase/PitchBook → funding, stage, investors, M&A.
Use Trends & Keyword Planner → top customer queries (e.g., “AI platform for analytics,” “AI platform pricing”).
Choose one initial segment (e.g., mid-market analytics teams in NA), then diversify to adjacent segments after traction.
Build TAM/SAM/SOM and a SWOT that reflects what the data actually says.
Align your funding ask with runway and milestones; show comparable raises for credibility.

Although this is a thorough explanation, if you’re facing time constraints or find yourself going back and forth with research, a business plan, or a pitch deck—contact me.

I will take the weight off your shoulders and prepare a data-driven business plan, market research, or pitch deck complete with financials that is clear, credible, and investor-ready.