PDF Version (14.4 MB) Show
After the export plan, market research can be the most important contributor to your international success. There are more than 190 countries in the world and you want to target the right one(s) for your product or service. To do this, you need information that will provide a clear picture of the political, economic and cultural factors affecting your operations in a given market. Market research is the key to understanding your opportunities. It can confirm that an opportunity actually exists, provide you with insight into how a new market can be developed, or help you discover what's important to your potential customers. The three basic stages of international market research, while detailed, aren't particularly complex: Stage 1. Screen potential marketsCollect statistics that show your sector’s product or service exports to various countries. Identify five to 10 large and fast-growing markets for your product or service. Look at their performance over the past three to five years. Has market growth been consistent year over year? Did import growth occur even during periods of economic slowdown? If not, did growth resume with economic recovery? Apply the same research questions to select smaller emerging markets that may not have as many competitors as an established market. Target three to five of the most promising markets for further study. Stage 2. Assess target marketsExamine trends that could influence demand for your product or service. Calculate the overall consumption of products or services like yours and identify the amount imported. Study the competition, both domestic and international. Look at each competitor's Canadian and foreign market shares. For marketing purposes, become familiar with channels of distribution, cultural differences and business practices. Identify any foreign barriers (tariff or non-tariff) for the product or service being imported into the country, as well as any Canadian barriers (such as export controls) affecting exports to the country. Research potential federal, provincial or foreign government incentives to help you promote the export of your product or service. Stage 3. Draw conclusionsAfter analyzing the data, you may decide that you should restrict your marketing efforts to a few countries. In general, one or two countries are usually enough to start with. With these conclusions in hand, you can begin to develop your marketing strategy (see Step 5 – Reaching the customer: developing your export marketing strategy). Source: Adapted with permission from Western Economic Diversification Canada. Be prepared for additional expenses for market research, product launches and personal visits so you don't miss potential opportunities. 4.2 Types of market researchThere are many ways to study a market, but the more detailed and objective your research, the better. There are two main types of market research: secondary and primary. 4.2.1 Secondary researchSecondary research can be done in Canada, using data sources including periodicals, studies, market reports, books, surveys and statistical analyses. Many of these are available online, as well as from chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, industry and trade associations, and Canadian companies that are already doing business in your target market. 4.2.2 Primary researchAfter completing your secondary research, collect market information through direct contact with potential customers or other sources. Primary research almost always demands direct, personal involvement through on-site interviews and consultations. State your company's objectives at the outset and present your questions clearly. For example:
4.2.3 Online resourcesCanada Business Network The Canada Business Network’s export section is a hub for the Canadian export market and includes links to market and sector information, trade statistics and sources of trade leads and potential partners. Canadian Trade Commissioner Service The TCS site offers access to contact information for trade commissioners that can provide advice and skills to further your business abroad. MY TCS provides access to hundreds of market reports, export publications and guides as well as upcoming trade events, webinars, podcasts and videos. Create a profile and opt-in to receive email notifications of new opportunities to expand your business through exporting. Agri-Food Trade Service The website of Agriculture and Agri-food Canada’s Agri-food Trade Service offers a wealth of market studies and country reports for companies in the agri-food sector. Export myth: I can't compete overseas That's not necessarily true. If your business sells domestically, why wouldn't it find customers abroad? Remember, price isn't the only selling point—other factors such as need, utility, quality, service and consumer taste can make you competitive. Canadian businesses AND TCS working together -When this Vancouver-based company was ready to expand worldwide, they called upon TCS to sell to the US, Africa, Vietnam and beyond. Watch the video Some companies conduct market research projects entirely online through the inexpensive collection format known as crowdsourcing. To learn more about how crowdsourcing and other forms of market research can benefit your company, consult the Trade Commissioner Service’s (TCS) Spotlight on Market Research. 4.2.4 Profiling potential marketsHere's a checklist to help you summarize what you can learn about a possible market. After you've created two or three profiles, compare them to see which market(s) present the best overall opportunities.
Access for Microsoft 365 Access 2021 Access 2019 Access 2016 Access 2013 Access 2010 Access 2007 More...Less You can bring the data from an Excel workbook into Access databases in many ways. You can copy data from an open worksheet and paste it into an Access datasheet, import a worksheet into a new or existing table, or link to a worksheet from an Access database. This topic explains in detail how to import or link to Excel data from Access desktop databases. If your goal is to store some or all of your data from one or more Excel worksheets in Access, you should import the contents of the worksheet into a new or existing Access database. When you import data, Access creates a copy of the data in a new or existing table without altering the source Excel worksheet.
The steps in this section explain how to prepare for and run an import operation, and how to save the import settings as a specification for later reuse. As you proceed, remember that you can import data from only one worksheet at a time. You cannot import all the data from a whole workbook at the same time.
Review the source data and take action as described in this table.
Close the source workbook, if it is open. Keeping the source file open might result in data conversion errors during the import operation.
See Save the details of an import or export operation as a specification to learn how to save your save your specification details. See Run a saved import or export specification to learn how to run your saved import or link specifications. See Schedule an import or export specification to learn how to schedule import and link tasks to run at specific times. If you receive the message An error occurred trying to import file, the import operation completely failed. Conversely, if the import operation displays a dialog box that prompts you to save the details of the operation, the operation was able to import all or some of the data. The status message also mentions the name of the error log table that contains the description of any errors that occurred during the import operation.
Important: Even if the status message indicates a completely successful operation, you should review the contents and structure of the table to ensure that everything looks correct before you start using the table.
The following table describes the steps that you can take to correct missing or incorrect values.
Tip: While you are troubleshooting the results, if you find just a few missing values, you can add them to the table manually. Conversely, if you find that entire columns or a large number of values are either missing or were not imported properly, you should correct the problem in the source file. After you have corrected all known problems, repeat the import operation.
In addition, you might want to review the error log table (mentioned in the last page of the wizard) in Datasheet view. The table has three fields — Error, Field, and Row. Each row contains information about a specific error, and the contents of the Error field should help you troubleshoot the problem.
Top of Page By linking an Access database to data in another program, you can use the querying and reporting tools that Access provides without having to maintain a copy of the Excel data in your database. When you link to an Excel worksheet or a named range, Access creates a new table that is linked to the source cells. Any changes that you make to the source cells in Excel appear in the linked table. However, you cannot edit the contents of the corresponding table in Access. If you want to add, edit, or delete data, you must make the changes in the source file. Typically, you link to an Excel worksheet (instead of importing) for the following reasons:
You are now ready to start the linking operation.
Top of Page Even if you receive the message Finished linking table, you should open the table in Datasheet view to ensure that the rows and columns show the correct data. If you see errors or incorrect data anywhere in the table, take correct action as described in the following table, and then try linking again. Remember that you cannot add the values directly to the linked table, because the table is read-only.
|