About WISC

Case Study: HUI Manufacturing achieves double-digit growth through implementation of WISC market research. Click here to read the HUI Manufacturing case study.

Case Study: G&G Machine exceeds growth projections through WISC insights for go-to-market strategies in new markets. Click here to read the G&G Machine case study.

Wisconsin Innovation Service Center (WISC) market research and analysis informs key business and product development decisions for clients in Wisconsin and throughout the United States. The center connects small businesses, entrepreneurs, and inventors with the resources of the College of Business and Economics through expert consulting and customized projects completed by university student research analysts and digital marketing specialists. WISC projects help clients assess market feasibility, identify opportunities for diversification and growth, learn about customer characteristics and preferences, better understand the competitive landscape, and chart a clear path for marketing success. Entrepreneurs, business owners, and inventors looking for insights and action plans for marketing their products and services may contact WISC at (262) 472-1703 or innovate@uww.edu.

Clients rely on WISC market research and analysis to understand their customers, market demand trends, and competition. Companies turn to WISC when they want to explore a new product idea, launch a new business, get more customers, increase sales, and gain a competitive advantage.

When it comes to B2B business decisions, nothing beats hearing directly from industry representatives, and WISC student market research analysts specialize in conducting interviews and reporting on the results. Want to know how target customers think about sourcing and supplier selection? WISC researchers will call and ask them. Market assessment research projects investigate the top market opportunities for companies. Diversification assessments look for new industries for company expansion and sustainability. 

Wondering if there is a market for a new product or service idea? Need to assess the feasibility of your business concept before investing too much of your savings into it? WISC offers custom solutions to help you explore market opportunities before you put too much time or money into your idea. For consumer products and services, WISC will contact store representatives who know your target customers' preferences and interview them. WISC also conducts "look-alike" business interviews to help inform your new business launch by finding similar companies in similar communities far enough away that they are not your competitor, then calling to ask them key questions on you want answered.

WISC expertise comes from conducting more than 8,000 feasibility studies since the center was founded in 1980. Over the years, the market feasibility study research method has evolved to incorporate more in-depth interviews with representatives in a position to know about market demand and competition. WISC provides a unique service to inventors and entrepreneurs who need to make important decisions about what direction to take their new product, service, or business idea. 

Director Russ Kashian oversees strategic research plan development and guides student researchers and analysts through each stage of the project. WISC specialists handle the market research for companies and inventors, so clients can keep doing what they do best. Then, report in hand, clients find it much easier to make informed product and business development decisions. 

• Discover market drivers 
• Measure customer satisfaction 
• Attract more customers 
• Understand competitors 
• Assess new product, service, or business launch feasibility
• Identify potential licensing partners for your patented product
• Improve distributor connections

WISC has extremely high rates of client satisfaction, both as a Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) sub-contractor and as a direct service provider. Over 75 percent of our clients are referred to us by former clients and professionals, including an increasing number of MEPS.

"The best source to help validate a product in our experience is the Wisconsin Innovation Service Center."
Charlie Alter, Director | Edison Industrial Systems Center, Manufacturing Extension Center

"The research services WISC offers to small manufacturers are absolutely invaluable to them and to those of us who are trying to help them make critical business decisions. We've also appreciated your willingness to be flexible and to customize service to meet client needs in an even more focused way. Yours is a vitally important service."
Anne Brown | Mid-America Manufacturing Technology Center 

"It was really helpful to get a third-party perspective and insights our company could profit from."
Tramont Corporation

"Despite the downturn in the economy, G&G Machine is targeting new customers and new industries for an additional 5% over the existing sales projections."
G&G Machine | Click here to read the G&G machine case study.

"The information was immediately usable, including 20 to 30 new contacts and future business opportunities I did not know existed. The time this report saved me along with the in-depth contact information was invaluable."
Smartflow Technologies

"Entering a new market is expensive, and, although several new markets were appealing, we needed to target the most promising market. We used the WISC information to successfully expand into new medical market segments."
HUI Manufacturing  | Click here to read the HUI case study

"We turned to WISC to provide research to help us apply for a $750,000 SBIR grant for an e-learning program to educate rural healthcare providers. . . . We quoted the WISC report directly in several instances, which helped us complete the successful application much more quickly than doing this type of research ourselves."
Terra Nova Learning Systems

"I have found the market research services at WISC to be an invaluable resource for novice inventors, entrepreneurs, and seasoned professionals. Their staff are genuinely interested in and invested in the success of their clients. WISC is one of the top resources available to inventors and businesses seeking insights into the market."
Louis Foreman, Founder and CEO of Enventys and CEO of Edison Nation