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Template · 4 min read

How to Write a Market Sizing & Forecasting Brief (Free Template)

A ready-to-use market sizing & forecasting brief template for India: background, objectives, audience, geography, timeline, budget and deliverables.

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Quick answer

A good market sizing & forecasting brief covers background, the business decision, research objectives, target audience, cities, timeline, budget range and expected deliverables. It fits on a single page.

At a glance

Guide type
Template · 4 minute read
Method covered
Market Sizing & Forecasting
Research family
Strategy research
Typical timeline
4–8 weeks, depending on how much primary validation the estimate needs
Typical sample
a bottom-up build supported by 10–20 supply-side validation interviews
Written for
Anyone writing a research brief · Procurement issuing an RFP · Agencies helping a client brief

Key takeaways

  • One page is enough
  • State the decision, not just the questions
  • Share a budget range for realistic proposals
  • Include what you already know

Reader intent

Who this guide is for

Three readers arrive here with different problems. Each should be able to act on this page without reading all of it.

  • Anyone writing a research brief

    A structure for a market sizing & forecasting brief that gets comparable proposals back instead of three different studies.

  • Procurement issuing an RFP

    The scope lines that must be specified if quotes are to be compared like for like.

  • Agencies helping a client brief

    The questions to ask before writing a proposal against a vague objective.

01

Brief template

Copy this structure into your brief:

  • Background: the business context
  • Decision: what will you do differently based on the results?
  • Objectives: 3–5 research questions
  • Audience: who, and how they are defined
  • Geography: cities, tiers and rural coverage
  • Timeline: when you need results
  • Budget range
  • Deliverables: e.g. market model, five-year forecast, segment sizing

02

Tips

Share existing data, and say which stakeholders will use the results.

03

How Market Research India can help

Market Research India designs and runs market sizing & forecasting projects across 50 Indian cities and 30 industries. A senior research director leads every study, and our own supervised teams handle the fieldwork. You get clear recommendations, not just data tables.

Share your objective and we will send a scoped, fixed-fee proposal within 24 hours, with a recommended method, sample and timeline.

What goes wrong

Common mistakes in market sizing & forecasting

Most disappointing market sizing & forecasting studies fail for reasons that were visible in the design, not in the fieldwork. These are the ones we see most often, and what to do instead.

  • 01

    One source, multiplied

    A single published figure extended by assumptions inherits every error in the original and adds new ones. Build two independent estimates and reconcile them.

  • 02

    Confusing the total market with the reachable one

    TAM impresses investors and misleads planners. State SAM and SOM explicitly, with the constraints that separate them.

  • 03

    Assumptions nobody can trace

    Any input without a visible source is challenged once and ignored thereafter. One assumption, one line, one source.

  • 04

    Borrowed growth rates

    A CAGR copied from a published report is a guess with a decimal point. Derive growth from drivers you can observe — households, outlets, penetration, price.

  • 05

    Assumptions buried in the model

    A number nobody can trace is challenged once and ignored thereafter. Every assumption on its own labelled line, with its source.

  • 06

    Analysis with no recommendation attached

    Senior readers need a position. Close each section with what you would do, and what would have to be true for you to change your mind.

Run through this before sign-off

Your checklist before you brief anyone

A working sequence for a market sizing & forecasting project. Most of it costs nothing, and it saves the two weeks a re-field would take.

  1. 1

    Build the estimate top-down and bottom-up independently, then explain the gap.

  2. 2

    Validate with manufacturers, distributors or regulators who see actual volume.

  3. 3

    Put every assumption on its own labelled line, with its source and date.

  4. 4

    Separate TAM, SAM and SOM with the constraint that creates each step.

  5. 5

    Scenario the three assumptions the answer is most sensitive to.

  6. 6

    Hand over a working model rather than a PDF, so the team can update it next quarter.

  7. 7

    Agree in writing who acts on each finding, and by when, before the debrief ends.

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Answers

Frequently asked questions

The questions buyers ask us most often before they commission market sizing & forecasting.

Can you help write the brief?

Yes. Book a short call and we'll shape the brief with you.

Request a proposal

Talk to a market sizing & forecasting specialist.

From guide to project

Where market sizing & forecasting actually gets commissioned

If this guide has settled the method, these are the pages worth opening next: the service itself, and the markets where market sizing & forecasting is most often run for our clients.

Keep exploring

More reading on market sizing & forecasting

Grouped rather than listed, so you can find the one page you need instead of scanning a wall of links.

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Every angle we have published on this method: what it costs, how long it takes, how large the sample should be and how to choose a partner.

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Market Sizing & Forecasting city by city

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Strategy methods first — these are the ones most often combined with market sizing & forecasting in a single study.

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