Identifying Your Customer Written by Annette Dunlap, MBA Extension Associate Ag & Resource Economics NC State University

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit Program Outline The Customer is Key Demographic Characteristics Psychographic Characteristics Market Size Next Steps Resources The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

The Customer is Key No business can be successful without customers The important question to ask is: Is there a need or want that I can meet and make a profit by doing so? The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Demographic Characteristics Market segment: a grouping of potential customers who have similar characteristics Typical demographic characteristics: age group income level educational level family size marital status The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Typical Value-Added/Alternative Agriculture Customer Profile Age 35 and older Above-average household income Four-year college education, or better Children still at home Married The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Psychographic Characteristics Psychographics: Segmenting customers according to access to resources, motivation for buying and willingness to innovate The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

Typical Psychographic Profile of Value-Added/Alternative Ag Customers High resourced: access to income and information Philosophically motivated: higher level of idealism than in the general population Willingness to innovate: better educated and higher income households are typically more willing to try new things The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit Market Size Narrowly defined segments are often called niche markets Niche market size affects your ability to grow your business Knowing your reason for beginning a value-added or alternative enterprise is important because remember: The goal of being in any business is to find and keep a customer - and make a profit by doing so The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit

The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit Next Step Resources A general overview of the VALS typology: http://www.sric-bi.com/VALS/types.shtml US Census and Demographic Data: http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en NC Demographics: http://demog.state.nc.us For a comprehensive look at marketing for value-added and alternative agriculture: www.utextension.utk.edu/publications/pbfiles/PB1699.pdf The Value-Added & Alternative Agriculture Start-up Toolkit