I’m a business owner. Should I be doing research?
Yes. Unequivocally, Yes. In fact, I'm willing to bet that even though you may not call it "research", you do research on the regular.
As a business owner, you probably have questions about your product or service that you would like answered. Questions like:
Does it work?
How do people experience it? Do they like it? Do they want more of it?
Should I change anything about it? How could I make it better?
To answer these questions you may be talking to clients/customers 1-on-1, perhaps you are sending out a survey or analyzing your revenue.
Successful businesses collect information. They use that information to make decisions - to pivot and to grow. They do research.
Research is a SUPERPOWER for businesses.
Let's start with a clear definition - literally always my favorite place to start. If you Google "research + definition", here is what you will find courtesy of Oxford Languages:
n: the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions. v: investigate systematically
Pretty good, but a little complicated, right?
Here's my definition: Research is an intentional plan to collect information in order to answer questions you have (about anything).
There are four key parts:
Ask a question.
Make an intentional plan to answer the question.
Collect information.
Use the information to answer the question.
Note that #1-4 above don't say things like: large sample size, randomized control trial, university partner, or a huge budget. That’s right, it’s a complete myth that research requires any of that. Research can be quick, cheap, and on a small scale.
Good research requires 3 things, which you can get started with today:
You need to have a clear question. Sounds simple, but a lot of people struggle with getting specific about what they want to know. My advice? Start with something you want (or need) to take action on. Think about an upcoming decision and something you’d LOVE to know to help you make the decision.
You need to collect the information in a way that makes sense to answer your question. What the heck does this mean? I’ll start with a basic example. If your business serves a specific group of people (for example, let’s say you sell to millennials) then get information from those people — don’t release a survey into the wild where anyone can answer!
You need to be ethical and make sure that people are protected. This is super important and often overlooked outside of the traditional research space. The easiest way to put this into action is to TELL people why you are asking them a question and how you will use the information they provide you BEFORE they answer and let them decide if given all that they still want to.
