Even better, good market research can help a small business to grow by keeping you up with current trends and with what your competitors are doing. Knowing the state of the market and how to improve your position within it can revolutionise those businesses which carry out proper market research.
“Unfortunately most companies shy away from market research, and then they wonder why they don’t succeed,” says Simon Wieremiej, spokesperson for the British Market Research Association (BMRA).
“Research, superficially, seems straightforward – you ask a few people a few questions, and get the information you need,” says Michael Warren, former director general of the Market Research Society (MRS) and now a freelance researcher and consultant. “But it isn’t that simple and it is always advisable in research, as in every sphere of life, to consult with the professionals.”
For many small businesses though, the cost of properly conducted market research using a research agency can be prohibitive.
But market research is a broad term which covers a great deal more than the lady who stops you in the street with a questionnaire in her hand, and you can do basic market research yourself.