How do you conduct proper market research, making sure you dont miss anything important out?

Starting manufacturing business. Food stuff, Domestic pet food.

How do you conduct proper market research, making sure you dont miss anything important out?
There are several ways to go about this:





1. You can hire a market research professional


2. Or do it yourself, which if you are not a market research professional may have a significant learning curve





You did not indicate whether you have the budget to hire someone (usually cost about a thousand dollars or way more) or you will do it yourself.





You may want to do a focus group discussion, where an experienced facilitator can talk with about 10-15 of the target audience you want. Questions could include where do they purchase their dog food, what are the factors they consider when deciding what treats to buy their dogs, how much they typically spend on pet food, and others. Focus groups are candid, no holds barred discussions and a good facilitator would know how to control the free wheeling discussion.





You can also do a survey (say, about 100 respondents to give you a good sample). You have to work carefully in crafting the questions, striking a balance between closed questions and open ended questions without making the questionnaire too long affecting your response rate. The question of course is where to send your questionnaire, and this is where you need help.