In the pre start-up phase market research can help you to explore a problem, idea or opportunity. Market research is important if you are creating a business plan or pitch deck to raise funds or investment. Decision makers and investors will be looking for evidence that you have a viable business idea and opportunity. They will be interested in the problem you are solving, what differentiates you from others, evidence that you understand your target customers, and the size of the market opportunity and financial return. Even if you are not pitching to others it is important for you to have confidence in these areas yourself.
How to conduct secondary research
Secondary research is particularly useful in the pre start-up stage of your business as it can help you validate your thoughts and ideas, better understand the business problem or opportunity you are seeking to respond to, and assess if your business idea is a viable proposition.
Secondary research usually involves the following steps (McGivern (2013:111)):
- Identifying existing sources of data or information
- Gaining access to them
- Assessing their suitability
- Reviewing them
- Learning from them or analysing them
- Using the knowledge.
There is often a wealth of information and literature already in the public domain that can help you with your pre start-up research. A literature review is a structured way of reviewing this information and can be done as a ‘rapid review’:
- Define the purpose of your review and identify your key research questions or lines of enquiry.
- Brainstorm and map the sources of information that might be useful and the bodies and organisations that might hold useful information
- Prepare a list of keywords and key search terms.
- Conduct the search using search engines, websites and databases (see below a list of useful resources and starting points). Boolean search strings can help you to be more systematic and structured in your searching.
- Create a system that works for you to keep track of the information you find, for example an excel spreadsheet with the author, date, URL, relevant categories or keywords, and your notes/key points against your research questions.
- Get into the information at a high level and scan the introductory text, executive summaries, and abstracts to assess if the information is useful to you. Prioritise the reports and information that are going to be most useful and relevant to you.
- Get into the reports and information in a more in-depth level by reading whole reports, chapters or sections of reports. Engage in the research with a critical eye: what are the strengths and weaknesses, when was it produced, how does it link with other research, and what can you learn from it?
- Reflect back on your key research questions and write-up and share your key findings.
Sources of information
Below is a list of sources of information you may find useful as your start your market research. Nb. This is currently geared towards supporting UK based start-ups.
- The Complete Business Reference Advisor (COBRA) is a very useful starting point for early stage businesses looking to better understand their sectors, find business support, and understand business rules and regulations. It is available to access at the City Business Library (remotely via a subscription and free in in the library) and the British Library’s Business and IP Centre, and other libraries in the UK (such as Birmingham and Manchester libraries). The sector guides are very useful and are kept up to date with the latest industry trends, news and reports. Understanding who the main industry bodies are in your sector can be useful for accessing further research and insight and understanding your market. This can help you to ‘snowball’ and identify further sources of relevant and useful information and support.
- Industry research and trends reports from the leading market research providers and databases (e.g. Mintel, IbisWorld, Kantar, Frost and Sullivan) can provide useful top level information and insights into markets and consumer trends. These are commercial services but can be accessed in some libraries, such the British Library and City Business Library. This top level information can be useful for looking at changing trends and understanding overall market demand and supply. However, you may find this information too general for your needs and may need to triangulate with primary research or further specific research into your sector and business idea.
- The ‘big 5’ financial and consultancy services (Deloitte, Ernst and Young, KPMG, PWC and Grant Thornton) publish a wide range of industry sector reports that can be accessed in the public domain.
- An understanding of industry classification systems nationally and internationally is particularly important if you are operating business to business (B2B). This can help you to research and develop leads based on specific criteria such as industry, company size and location, using companies house data or databases that draw on this data. See the UK’s Standard industrial classification of economic activities (SIC). The International Trade Centre’s Market Analyis Tools Portal is useful for businesses with international research needs.
- Statista provides a wealth of market intelligence information and data. And some top level information and data can be seen free without a subscription.
- Research, reports and news from UK Government departments and non-departmental bodies can be searched using structured Google searching, or by visiting: https://www.gov.uk/search
- Structured searching of news agencies and news sites, using your keywords and topics, can provide insight into the latest consumer trends, business deals, and competitors. The business sections of newspapers are also useful. With some libraries you can access news services and magazines for free. Many libraries provide access to the Economist for example. News sources include: Google News; NewsNow; Factiva; Bloomberg; The Times; Fast Track League Tables; The Guardian; Economist; Facebook IQ; Google Trends; E-Marketer
- For articles and studies in journals and academic publications, the Jisc Library Hub Discover (formerly COPAC), the British Library Catalogue and Business Source Premier (accessible at the British Library and CBL) are useful go-to starting points. You may then need to visit specific libraries or specialist collections to view and read the studies in reading rooms or through electronic resources. Other reports and articles may be behind a paywall.
- Geodemographic data. The Office for National Statistics (ONS), NOMIS (Official Labour Market Statistics), the Consumer Data Research Centre, and the Audience Agency, provide a wealth of information, including the national census data, to help you profile your customers and to plan where to target your digital marketing and advertising. Local authorities also provide a wealth of information and data on their populations. Each area is required to produce a local joint strategic need assessment (JSNA). The Local Government Association have a useful benchmarking tool LG Inform enabling you to explore areas against a range of local metrics and KPIs.
- Digital analytical tools. Google Analytics and Facebook Audience Insights can help you to analyse data and information that is internal to your business (website traffic, visits and impressions to your website and facebook page), while tools such as Google Trends and Thinking with Google can help you to research and explore target audiences and trends.
- SEO and Keywords research tools (e.g. Ubersuggest, Google Autocomplete, Answer the Public) can help you to plan your content marketing. Sites such as Quora and Yahoo Answers can provide insight into the types of questions customers are asking and the words and phrases they are using. It can be helpful to do this research alongside primary research with your target customers to explore customer experiences and intentions more deeply and the type of content that is going to be most relevant and useful.
- The Content Marketing Institute provides a wide range of tools and resources for conducting digital analysis, keywords research, and search engine optimisation. Their annual benchmarking reports also provide useful insight to the latest trends and what digital marketing strategies companies are employing and finding to be most effective.
Nb. We will keep this list updated with resources that can support start-ups and small businesses with their market research. If you are aware of useful resources not listed here, feel free to contact us directly here and we can look to add them to this list.
Bibliography
McGivern, Y (2013) The Practice of Market Research: An Introduction. Fourth Edition. Pearson.