Idea Generation & Market Research

Idea Generation

Idea Napkin

Use this idea napkin to think through what you're working on and the elements that surround it such your audience and the value your idea brings.

Bug List

A Bug List — in the context of entrepreneurship and creativity — is a list of things that you encounter throughout your daily life that “bug”, or annoy you. Use this tool to think through what bothers you and how you can possibly resolve those problems.

Value Prop

Your value proposition (“value prop”) is a sentence of two that describes the value your product or service brings to your customer segment. It is the distillation of your business into its essence—it’s your reason for existing and how you will measure whether or not you are succeeding.

Competitor Analysis

This form will help you evaluate the competitive landscape for your venture. Comparing both the direct and indirect competition you will be facing can give you insights into how to set yourself apart, as well as what kinds of hurdles you may need to overcome. 

Market Research

The Library

The KSU research librarians set up a library guide for Entrepreneurship Research to assist entrepreneurs in Market Research, Industry Reports, and Date Research.

Karen MacDonald is the subject librarian for Entrepreneurship and is available to help entrepreneurs with market research, customer profiling, etc.

Students can visit her during open office hours in the Center for Entrepreneurship in the Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship:
Monday & Wednesday afternoons (1:00 – 4:00 pm) and Thursdays (10:00 am – 4:00 pm)
or contact her via email at kmacdon4@kent.edu

Qualtrics

Qualtrics is the Kent State University survey software. This program is free of charge to University faculty and students. Qualtrics allows teams to build, distribute, and analyze online surveys and polls within an easy-to-navigate and collaborative interface.