This may be the time to expand your small business. Others are pulling back, hoping things work out in the end. Your competition is watching what you are doing. There is no activity, and business is down.

Wow! Here’s your opportunity to step out and be noticed. This is the absolute best time to do that basic market research with the aim of moving into a new market, expanding with new customers, and exploring new ideas. Let’s examine this.

First of all, you don’t have to hire the ABC Market Wizards. You can make the decisions. You can decide whether to build that new product, move into that new store, or expand into that new territory by conducting your own in-house marketing research. Moving ahead without a guide could cost you time, money, and maybe your market, but so could sitting on the sideline!

Develop and use a simple report format as your guide to conducting the research you need. This guide will catalog just about everything you need in order to make a decision. A suggested outline might include: the purpose of the study, possibilities to explore, information sources, findings, and action items. If your concern is secrecy, have all parties sign a non-disclosure agreement.

PURPOSE
Let’s get off on the right foot. Before you spend a nickel, work on developing a clearly stated reason as to what needs researching and why. Let me illustrate. Suppose you own a restaurant that specializes in seafood. Whether you are personally doing the research, have a team, or are paying someone else to do the work is immaterial, you need to ask the right questions.

It does little good to ask, "How many families are there in that area?" when what you really want to know is, "How many people are there in that area that like batter-fried Southern catfish, because if there are enough, and if they have the money to purchase, we might start a new Southern Catfish Restaurant in the middle of that section of town?" Get the idea?

POSSIBILITIES
It’s your game, so you get to set the rules. Use your extensive knowledge of product, service, industry, and competition. Ask yourself this question: "What am I going to do with the information I obtain from this research?" The answer is not, "Well, we'll see based on what we find." Make a decision now!

Right now, decide on what you will do if the answer comes out one way, and what you will do if it comes out another. Your team, not you or some guru, should make the determination as to how much research information will be necessary to convince everyone of the correct action.

INFORMATION SOURCES
There are only two sources of information for what you want, primary and secondary. Primary sources are those you control, and include surveys, in-person interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and other dealings where you and the potential user of your product or service interact directly. Be aware! Primary research is very expensive, so save it to use as confirmation test of your secondary research.

Secondary research is the gathering of information collected by others. Nowadays there are literally hundreds of data banks available on the internet from both private and government sources. There are statistics and datum available from your market, industry affiliation groups, and even from your own sales records. Your task is to decide which of these are appropriate to your need. Be sure and check the public library, you’d be amazed at the wealth of information they have.

FINDINGS
It’s now time to convert the mountain of data into something you can use. The lists, statistics, and facts mean nothing unless you can relate them directly to the situation you want to address. When you hear a statistic, ask yourself, “Do these data help us in making our decision?" If they do, include them. One way of doing this is to write the question on the top of a sheet of paper, draw a vertical line down the middle. Write “support” above the left column and “interesting” above the other. All pertinent data will fall into one of these two categories.

ACTION ITEMS
Okay, if you are like most of us you probably discovered information you didn't expect. In the course of your research you may discover alternatives you didn't know existed. These alternatives may even cause you to formulate new questions and start the process over again. “But the cost!” you say. I say, “Better now than have that new project fail.” Don’t take having to start over as an indication of failure, use it as a stepping stone to success. Discover the facts now, before you spend money on a potential failure. At the end, result of your efforts should include recommendations of how to proceed.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: PLEASE INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING.)
Paul Tulenko is a Small Business Success Consultant based in New Mexico. Additional tips and suggestions are available at www.tulenko.com or call (toll-free) 1-866-TULENKO.