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resident population； which might be fairly easy to find out； but you
might also want to know something about people who e into
the catchment area to work or stay on holiday or for any other major
purpose。 There might； for example； be a hospital； library； railway station
or school nearby that also pulled potential customers to that particular
area。
3。 Where can you get the information？ This will involve either desk research
in libraries or on the internet； or field research； which you can do
yourself or get help in doing。 Some of the most important of these areas
are covered later in this chapter。
Field research； that is； ge。。ing out and asking questions yourself； is
the most fruitful way of gathering original information that can provide
petitive advantage
4。 Decide the budget： Market research will not be free even if you do it
yourself。 At the very least there will be your time。 There may well be
the cost of journals； phone calls； le。。ers and field visits to plan for。 At the
top of the scale could be the costs of employing a professional market
research firm。
Starting at this end of the scale； a business…to…business survey prising
200 interviews with executives responsible for office equipment
purchasing decisions cost one pany ￡12；000。 Twenty in…depth interviews
with consumers who are regular users of certain banking services
Marketing 113
cost ￡8；000。 Using the internet for web surveys is another possibility； but
that can impose too much of your agenda onto the recipients and turn
them away from you。
Check out panies such as Free Online Surveys （h。。p：//free…onlinesurveys。
co。uk） and Zoomerang （zoomerang/web/signup/
Basic。aspx） which provide so。。ware that lets you carry out online
surveys and analyse the data quickly。 Most of these organizations offer
free trials。
Doing the research yourself may save costs but may limit the objectivity
of the research。 If time is your scarcest modity； it may make
more sense to get an outside agency to do the work。 Using a reference
librarian or university student to do some of the spadework need not
be prohibitively expensive。 Another argument for ge。。ing professional
research is that it may carry more clout with investors。
Whatever the cost of research； you need to assess its value to you when
you are se。。ing your budget。 If ge。。ing it wrong would cost ￡100；000；
then ￡5；000 spent on market research might be a good investment。
5。 Select the research technique： If you cannot find the data you require
from desk research； you will need to go out and find the data yourself。
The options for such research are described later in this section； under
‘Field research’。
6。 Construct the research sample population： It is rarely possible or even
desirable to include every possible customer or petitor in your
research。 So； you have to decide how big a sample you need to give you
a reliable indication of how the whole population will behave。
7。 Process and analyse the data： The raw market research data needs to be
analysed and turned into information to guide your decisions on price；
promotion and location； and the shape； design and scope of the product
or service itself。
Desk research
There is increasingly a great deal of secondary data available in published
form and accessible either online or via business sections of public libraries
throughout the UK to enable new home business starters both to quantify
the size of market sectors they are entering and to determine trends in those
markets。 In addition to populations of cities and towns （helping to start
quantification of markets）； libraries frequently purchase Mintel reports；
involving studies of growth in different business sectors。 Government
statistics； showing trends in the economy； are also held （Annual Abstracts
for the economy as a whole； Business Monitor for individual sectors）。
If you plan to sell to panies or shops； Kompass and Kelly’s directories
list all pany names and addresses （including buyers’ telephone
numbers）。 Many industrial sectors are represented by trade associations；
114 The Thirty…Day MBA
which can provide information （see Directory of British Associations； CBD
Research）； while Chambers of merce are good sources of reference for
import/export markets。
These are some readily available sources of desk research data that an
MBA can use without tapping deeply into the corporate budget：
。 Applegate （applegate。uk） has information on 237；165 panies
cross…referenced to 57；089 products in the UK and Ireland。 It has a
neat facility that allows you to search out the top businesses and people
in any industry。
。 Business （business）： Contains some 400；000 listings in
25；000 industry； product； and service sub…categories。 Useful for general
industry background or details about a particular product line。
。 Chambers of merce （chamberonline。uk 》 International
Trade 》 International Chambers） run import/export clubs； international
trade contacts and provide market research and online intelligence
through a 150…country local network of chambers。 Their Link2Exports
（link2exports。uk） website provides specific information on
export markets by industry sector by country。
。 panies House （wwwpanieshouse。gov。uk） is the official
repository of all pany information in the UK。 Their WebCHeck
service offers a free…of…charge searchable pany Names and
Address Index which covers 2 million panies either by name or
by their unique pany registration number。 You can use WebCHeck
to purchase a pany’s latest accounts giving details of sales； profits；
margins； directors； shareholders and bank borrowings at a cost of ￡1
per pany。
。 Corporate Information （corporateinformation 》 TOOLS 》
Research Links） is a business information site covering the main world
economies； offering plenty of free information。 This link takes you to
sources of business information in over 100 countries。
。 Easy Searcher 2 （easysearcher） is a collection of 400 search
engines； both general and specialist； available on drop…down menus；
listed by category。
。 Euro Info Centres （euro…info。uk） is a n