Back to research

In some earlier posts I described how Coke and Sony managed to waste money on research. That often leads smaller companies to think that all research is a waste of money.

Let's consider the 'low cost' options:

• No testing at all: How can a smaller business hope to carry out research effectively if even large scale multi-nationals can get it wrong? Doesn’t it make more sense to work with the inventor’s intuition? Small businesses can learn from others’ mistakes in planning their research. Intuition can deliver high levels of creativity which bring about entirely new products, service and business models. It can also deliver the Sinclair C5 (the ill-fated battery-powered tricycle)
  

• Testing limited to friends and family: People around you can be helpful and they are certainly the nearest when you need to quickly ask for a knee-jerk reaction. They are usually available at no cash cost, but analysis of their responses can be lengthy (“why did they say that?”). Their major disadvantage as a research source is that they are very close to you - are you certain that they can give you impartial feedback?
  

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• Research