Step 1: Economic conditions

The information you gather in this step will help you answer the following questions about the region where you will operate your business:

• What is the population level and projections of my region?
  • Understanding current and future local population is important in helping determine potential demand for your products and services. If the market for the product and services includes other regions, you also need to consider these areas.
• What is the general level of education of my market?
  • This will influence how you position and deliver your product or service.
• What is the economic forecast for my region?
  • Overall economic conditions such as growth forecasts and business confidence are useful indicators of future demand for products and services.
• What is the level of building activity for my region?
  • Level of building activity is often a good indicator of economic conditions.
• What industries are people employed in my region?
  • Understanding how potential customers live and work is a useful guide to demand for products and services.
• What are the birthplaces of the people in my region?
  • Understanding the origins and ethnicity of potential customers can be a factor in helping determine demand for products and services.

Find your local government area (LGA)

Use find your council to locate your local government area (LGA).

Create a profile for the regions you are targeting

To generate a profile of the region in which you will be operating your business:

1. Go to Queensland Regional Profiles.
2. Under 'Step 1: Select Region Type', click on 'Local Government Area (LGA)'.
3. Under 'Step 2: Select Region(s)', click on 'by name'.
4. Select your LGA from the list of 'Available Regions'.
5. Click on the arrow button →. Your LGA will then appear under 'Selected Regions'. (Note: You can repeat this step to select multiple LGAs.)
6. Under 'Step 3: Select a comparison region', choose a region to compare with, if necessary.
7. Under 'Step 4: Select a report type and topic(s)', choose the type of report you would like (Resident, Time Series, Workforce, Indigenous or Snapshot), then choose 'All topics' from the drop-down list.
8. Under 'Step 5: Output type', click on either PDF or HTML.
9. Click on 'Create Report'.
10. Save a copy of this file to your desktop.

Also consider...

• Learn more about different research resources for business and industry.
• Use our free business planning resources to record the results of your market research.
• Find data to support your market research from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
• Find out how to benchmark your business.