Market Analysis Initiative for FAS, part 2

Simulation co-author – Esse Evbuomwan, PhD candidate at Washington University in St Louis)


Simulation Objective:

Analyze Market Opportunities and Customer Segmentation

Associated Simulation Library:

Background

Market Analysis is the process by which companies gather the data and insights to answer questions about market need, feasibility and profitability. It also helps to provide a data driven approach to decision making.

In Part 2, you’ll be analyzing the market environment and understanding potential customers are essential steps for making informed business decisions. Market analysis frameworks help businesses see the full picture of what they are good at, potential emerging challenges, and the landscape the business will enter. These tools are foundational in market research and strategic planning.

Likewise, market segmentation and customer identification are key to market research because they help businesses understand who their customers are, what they need, and how to reach them effectively. Market segmentation breaks a broad market into smaller, defined groups based on characteristics like role, location, organization, behavior, and needs. Instead of focusing to everyone, resources can be focused on high-value or high-potential segments. Segmentation allows for informed product development, because segmentation reveals what different groups want or need, helping businesses design or refine products to fit those specific preferences.

Identifying key customer types helps businesses create strategies to retain customers, not just acquire them. This supports long-term growth.

See part 1, on identifying data sources, data quality and doing research >

The Process

This job sim focuses on steps 3 & 4 & 5.

  • Set a SMART goal that clearly states what product or service you aim to evaluate for local manufacturing, ensuring that your research is focused on meeting community needs and supporting your biomanufacturing business objectives.

  • Identify primary sources (such as interviews with local professors or surveys of healthcare labs) and secondary sources (government reports, international databases) that provide insights into demand, supply chain gaps, and product needs for biomanufacturing. Evaluating data source quality is a key part of this step.

  • Evaluate existing suppliers and competitors in the region, as well as external factors like regulations, trade policies, and infrastructure challenges that could affect your business. Use SWOT and PEST analyses to structure your assessment.

  • Analyze the data to uncover unmet needs, emerging trends, and obstacles in the lab and healthcare sectors that your biomanufacturing company could address. This step ensures that your offerings are relevant and impactful.

  • Based on your research, identify the specific customer groups (e.g. academic labs, hospitals, or diagnostic centers) that would most benefit from your locally manufactured products. Understanding their preferences will help you develop tailored solutions.

  • Use your data to project market growth and estimate demand for the proposed products. This step supports investment decisions and production planning for your company.

  • Prepare a clear, concise summary of your market analysis findings, including key insights, recommendations, and supporting visuals to share with potential investors, partners, or your startup team. This communication is essential for aligning your team and building support for your biomanufacturing venture.

Resources

The Exercise

You are a member of the Future African Scientist (FAS) working towards launching a biomanufacturing company. You want to determine what products or services will best serve prospective customers in specified regions.

*For this job sim you will complete steps 3 - 5 of the Process (outlined above). For other steps in the Process, see Part 1 and Part 3.

After setting SMART goals and gathering data in Part 1, you must now make sense of that information to determine where your product or service fits in the market.

Your goal in this simulation is to use the findings from your primary and secondary research to analyze opportunities and challenges, define your target customer segment, and assess the external environment. This will help ensure your solution meets real needs, reaches the right audience, and is viable in your country’s economic and regulatory landscape.

You’ll complete three key tasks:

  • Assess the external environment and competitors using SWOT and PEST tools

  • Analyze the TAM, SAM, SOM to understand gaps your product can fill

  • Create a stakeholder matrix to identify which customer groups are most likely to benefit

Task 5- Assess the Environment

(*note: you’re starting at Task #5, because Task 1-4 are outlined in Part 1. This is a continuation of that job sim)

Understanding your competitors and environment is key to determining whether your idea is feasible. You’ll use two tools to assess both what’s happening internally to your business (e.g., capabilities, gaps) and what’s happening externally to your business (e.g., regulations, demand trends, competitors). You’ll also examine external factors like economic policies, regulatory changes, or consumer behavior that helps you understand growth opportunities. Many tools exist, but for this job sim, we will focus on the SWOT and the PEST analyses.

What tools will you use?

SWOT Analysis examines internal and external factors that can affect your business:

  • Internal:

    • Strengths: What advantages or capabilities do you have?
      Ex: Access to a local university lab for production, skilled scientific team

    • Weaknesses: What limitations or gaps could hold you back?
      Example: Limited funding, lack of manufacturing equipment

  • External:

    • Opportunities: What trends or conditions in the environment could benefit you?
      Example: Increased demand for locally produced reagents, import restrictions on foreign products.

    • Threats: What external risks could impact your success?
      Example: Established competitors, unstable policy environment.

PEST Analysis helps you evaluate external environmental factors that could influence your strategy:

  • Political: Government regulations, trade laws, tax policies
    Example: National import bans or incentives for local production

  • Economic: Market size, inflation, exchange rates, access to funding
    Example: Fluctuating foreign exchange rates increasing cost of imported reagents

  • Social: Consumer behaviors, education levels, public perception
    Example: Growing trust in local manufacturing, demand from public universities

  • Technological: Infrastructure, innovation, access to digital tools
    Example: Lack of cold chain infrastructure, increasing automation in labs

Questions to Answer:

  • Who are the major local and/or international competitors already in the market?

  • What are your internal strengths and weaknesses compared to them?

  • What external opportunities or threats could affect your product’s success?

  • What political, economic, social, or technological factors could influence your ability to operate or scale?

  • What partnerships or resources could help you overcome challenges?

Resources to Help You:

  • Template: PEST analysis (adapted from Businessballs 2009)

  • Template: SWOT analysis (adapted from NC State, Poole College of Management)

  • Video: [ ADD ]

  • Trade, Food and Drug regulation websites e,g NAFDAC (Nigeria) or PPB (Kenya)

  • Government industrial policy papers

  • Environmental Assessment Toolkits, part 1 (iBiology Course: Business Concepts for Life Scientists)

  • SWOT and PEST analysis resource  (Dan Shewan (2025), WordStream.com)

  • Business and industry news articles

  • Competitor websites

  • This publication, while focused on yellow fever, has details on possible opportunities, challenges and organizations to consider for partnerships.

Task 6 - Analyze Market Opportunities and Challenges

Using the data sources you identified in the previous simulation, explore the key gaps in your country’s research lab and/or healthcare infrastructure. These gaps may include limited access to certain products, high costs, or unreliable supply chains. This step will help you understand the scale of the opportunity and where your product or service can make the greatest impact.

As part of this analysis, estimate the potential size of your market using the TAM, SAM, and SOM framework:

  • TAM (Total Addressable Market): The total demand for your product if every possible customer in your country used it. 

  • SAM (Serviceable Available Market): The portion of TAM you can realistically serve, based on geography, regulations, or product fit. 

  • SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): The portion of SAM you can expect to reach initially, given your current capacity and resources.

These estimates will help you prioritize your efforts and set realistic expectations for market entry and growth.

Questions to Answer:

  • What unmet needs exist in research labs, healthcare institutions or start-ups in your country or region?

  • What trends suggest future demand (e.g., more diagnostic testing, research investment, or disease burden)?

  • What challenges or risks (e.g., pricing, logistics, policies) could limit your product’s success?

  • Based on your data, what are the TAM, SAM, and SOM for your product or service?

Resources to Help You:

Task 7 - Define the Target Customer Segmentation

Now that you understand the broader market, narrow your focus to the groups that would benefit most from your locally manufactured product or service. Consider their size, needs, and purchasing power.

Questions to Answer:

  • Who are your ideal customers: research labs, hospitals, clinics, universities, or start-ups and why?

  • What are their pain points, and how does your product solve them?

  • How likely are they to switch from imported options to a local solution?

Resources to Help You:

Deliverables

Task 5

Two slides to help you understand the landscape of the business environment, containing:

  • A completed SWOT analysis of your product’s market fit. Refer to SWOT analysis template (adapted from NC State, Poole College of Management)

  • A brief PEST analysis (2-3 bullet points per category) identifying external factors that may impact success. Refer to PEST analysis template (adapted from Businessballs 2009)

Task 6

A slide deck help you evaluate the scale of the opportunity, containing:

  • A bullet-point summary of key market gaps, unmet needs, and emerging trends relevant to your product or service

  • A description of risks or barriers that could impact market success (e.g. regulatory, logistical, pricing-related)

  • Clear estimates for your:

    • TAM (Total Addressable Market)

    • SAM (Serviceable Available Market)

    • SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market)

  • A short explanation (2–3 sentences) of how these estimates were calculated, including data sources and any assumptions

Task 7

A spreadsheet with your findings (template customer segment sheet) that includes

  • a short description of your primary customer group(s) that includes customer group characteristics, needs, and motivations. 

  • any quotes or data you gathered to support your choice.

Use headings, tables, or visuals where appropriate. The insights from this exercise will support future planning, forecasting, and product positioning.

Additional Tasks

A professional in the field of market analysis may also perform:

  • Presentations to business partners and scientists

  • Conduct feasibility studies

  • Develop data collection tools: design surveys, questionnaires, or interview guides to gather targeted information from stakeholders.

  • Create budget and analyze cost: estimate the financial requirements and ROI of potential market opportunities.

  • Conduct scenario planning: develop best-case, worst-case, and most-likely market scenarios to inform strategic decisions.

Skills Used to Perform this Task

  • Written communication: clear and concise writing; technical writing

  • Analytical Thinking: Synthesizing information from multiple sources to identify patterns, risks, and opportunities

  • Customer Analysis: Mapping product features to specific customer needs and pain points.

  • Environmental Scanning: Evaluating political, economic, and competitive forces that influence feasibility

  • Strategic Framing: Using SWOT and PEST tools to organize complex information and prepare for decision-making

Skills Used in the Field

  • Broad technical expertise (STEM field)

  • Critical/analytical thinking

  • Project management

  • Communicating & relationship-building with clients

  • Presentation skills

  • Time and project management

  • Strategic thinking

  • Stakeholder engagement

  • Effective writing for technical and non-technical audiences