Gayle asked:

I would like to start up my own business by opening up a Respite-Care facility in Northern Ontario-Sudbury. How do I research the market availability and where do I start? I also need to know how to access the costs of what the current rate the people pay for this short term stay is in order to decide if it is worth the venture. I have accessed your site and can't find where to start up a business profile beginning with the basics.

Michelle Munro answered:

Anyone in Sudbury looking to start a business is free to come and visit our centre for further information. As we are a non-profit all our services and consultations are free.

Assessing market availability would involve surveying the market to see if demand exists. We recommend 200 consumer surveys to our clients. We would then assist in analyzing the results and comparing them to the appropriate demographic information, which we have on file. We also have sample surveys and will review the survey for the client free of charge. As far as assessing the costs, if it does not come out in the survey I would suggest some guerilla marketing with similar organizations in the city.

I'm not 100% sure who the potential target would be for this service. The client and I would need to sit down and determine that in order to decide where to conduct the surveys and exactly how many to complete.

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