Target market has been described as a combination of buyers looking to downsize, those who want to spend more time outdoors, those who want to belong to a community and those who want to be mortgage-free while living an urban community of like-minded individuals. This target market is almost entirely understood as psychographic. As with any complex of dwellings, there will be people of all shapes, sizes, stripes and colors living at Slice of Heaven. The key is to understand why they are living there, or why they would. A specific challenge with determining this target market is that the concept is new, almost entirely without precedent. There are some relatively weak precedents with respect to "communities of like-minded individuals" but those are so entirely niche market as to be nearly meaningless in this discussion. The one trait that can be gleaned from such communities is that such individual genuinely value the community aspect, and reject the disconnect that often exists between neighbors in the modern urban environment. The challenge is that these corollaries are in rural areas, not urban. That said, the importance of community cannot be understated. These are people who will self-select to be here. The key to marketing will be to figure out, roughly, who these people are and make sure that they receive the message.

The second characteristic is that the target market consists of people who are more into the outdoors, and general "earthiness." This is a somewhat vague notion, but these are do-in-yourself people who like to build things, like to grow things, and like to be in a place where their neighbors all work together towards common goals. These are people who do not buy their way out of problems, but build them.

As such, they are more likely to be intelligent, though may not have formal education; they may be in the trades. They may have unusual careers, either on the artistic side or the trades/hands-on side. In many cases, such individuals will prefer a smaller living space, with fewer possession. To a certain extent, the target market has checked out of the consumer economy, or they prefer to or aspire to. The target market has a sense that the world is bigger than they are, and thus seeks to have a smaller footprint. But they are pragmatic, and they live in the city because they have a job there, or they just prefer the urban lifestyle.

They are more likely to ride bicycles than they are to drive a car. They are more likely to eat organic, though they will not necessarily do so. Other alternative dietary regimes are going to be more common. Certain activities like yoga or meditation are more likely, as well, though again there are no absolutes. Another trait of the target market is that they may have the financial means to own much bigger, but prefer not to. This is not designed as a trailer park for people on disability -- to be somewhat blunt about it -- but rather as a place people opt into for lifestyle reasons, not financial.

The market is believed to be...

While tiny homes are a trend, they are very much a niche market. People are fascinated by them, and the philosophy that underlies them. This fascination is expected to continue. However, the actual size of the market for tiny homes right now is minimal, and realistically there is no established market of any sort for a community of tiny homes. Only a small percentage of people who are interested in the concept are expected to be among the serious buyers. It is worth remembering, though, that Slice of Heaven is small, and therefore the target market need not be that big. If there are 100 people interested, that means there will be a waiting list. This is a narrow niche, but with a certain psychographic profile, but even then only a very small percentage of people fitting this profile will genuinely be interested in buying into Slice of Heaven.
Customer Analysis

Not entirely sure how a customer is different than the target market, so the target marketing analysis will be built upon here. In a multi-unit residential community, there will be a mix of demographics. Preliminary research indicates that the most likely consumers fall into one of two categories -- young singles or childless couples, and empty nesters looking to scale down their lifestyle. They are going to be white, most likely. As noted, they will be intelligent but may not have formal education. Arguably, though, a higher percentage will have some college education.

The consumer is going to be bound more by interests, ranging from fitness and diet, to craft beer, yoga and other such trappings. These are people who go to community gardens and farmer's markets. But they are a subset of the market for those things, which enjoy broad popularity. The subset has a specific interest in community living, as the nature of the tiny home is that you spend more time outside of it. They want to put their money towards other things, rather than their home. They probably do not drive, or if they do might prefer a car share, electric car or something similar. The consumer probably has a high degree of environmental consciousness. The consumer probably has left-leaning politics, is feeling the Bern, and supports marijuana legalization and gay marriage. They are probably not religious.

These are all suppositions however, based on what we know about the market for tiny houses. The problem is that we do not know these things for certain. There may well be a strong potential market for people who wish to set up a community of this nature specifically as a religious community -- we do not know for…