How ESB stands to gain from EU energy market?

Can I have some advice on how to gain market intelligence systematically?

• Hello If all of your knowledge about industries / markets / demands / needs and wants /, and all of your interests, passions and skills were removed, and you were left with just one thing, and that is your knowledge about how to do business, how to understand what is going on in the markets, industries, how to find out what is going on in trends, and you had one thing repeating in your mind, which is "Start with the Who".  What would you do? How would you go about finding out the information you would need in order to provide value in an area where it is lacking, or perhaps, for starters just compare the different types of businesses out there so that you can make a decision as to which topic/market you should enter, while ignoring your very own interests, passions, skills etc, and focusing solely on the needs, wants and problems of others, so that when you have this information you can then go about learning the necessary things which will help you solve these problems? I have been reading forums, books and articles for the past few months now, and the question I had in mind was completely wrong.  I was searching for guides for doing market research, whereas all along I should have been searching for guides on how to gain market intelligence. I feel as though there must be a systematic way to approach this type of research.  I feel as though there are simply too many things going on in the world to just hope I am reading the right stuff. I am certainly not ready to go into business for a variety of reasons, lack of money, lack of knowledge, I am not even sure yet what I could specialize in, I have only been studying marketing and business books all along, and of the most valuable things I have learned is to be in business for the WHO, basically finding out how I could solve other peoples problems, and helping other people improve any aspect of their lives, businesses, health, technology or whatever it may be, and I'm also sure that once I do find a niche / market where I think I could provide value, the next step would be to become knowledgeable and skilled in that field, and I understand that this will take a good bit of reading, practice, listening etc... My main question here is, how could I approach the acquisition of market intelligence?  Rather than simply starting with my own interests, typing something into Google and randomly looking at loads of websites one after the other, is there a proven strategic way of doing this?  I would really appreciate your input.  Thank you

• Answer:

  I do market research for a living, which is essentially systematic intelligence gathering for a topic of choice. And I would recommend that you follow your own interests and passions to build intelligence and skills in the areas that you would enjoy knowing more about. As you point out yourself, there is an infinity of opportunities out there. So, why not chase the ones that are likely to be the most fun for you. Most people spend 40+ hours a week working.  The ones who enjoy it the most are the ones who followed their passion, in the first place. As for systematic intelligence gathering, the first and most important part of the intelligence gathering process is to determine your objectives and scope of the project.  And better understanding the universe is too broad for most people, unless you're into religion or philosophy ;-) However, if you're like me and enjoy learning different things about different things, market research is a pretty good field to get into, especially if you're good with numbers.