Exploring the Cost of Paid Market Research Options
As a statistic, the outlook for businesses to succeed beyond 10 years can be alarming. As time goes on, the failure rate for startups gradually increases, and on average looks like this: 21.5% of startups fail in the first year, 30% in the second year, 50% in the fifth year, and 70% in their 10th year. In 2019, the long-term failure rate of startups remained around 90%.
When you begin to dig into these figures and talk to small business owners, it becomes apparent that one of the main contributors is being blindsided by issues that could have been prevented with market research. Of the main reasons Investopedia cites for why businesses fail, two of them are directly tied to market research. They include targeting the wrong market and not doing enough research.
The Advantages of Hiring Market Research Experts
With startup failure rates as high as they are, and two of the main reasons businesses fail is tied to a lack of, or inadequate, market research, the value of doing it properly becomes apparent. Yet, unfortunately, many individuals are at a loss for how to get started or what methods to deploy. This is why the savviest of entrepreneurs tend to hire experts to perform this critical task.
One of the first obstacles is knowing how to set up your primary research methods to reach the right audience and gather the right information. Primary market research means going right to the source: your potential customers. Common primary research methods include interviews, surveys, focus groups, and observations.
Experts are also adept at secondary research, which includes accessing and analyzing existing market research information and data. This is often difficult for individuals as they don’t know where to go, are unable to access information due to hefty subscription fees, or don’t know how to properly analyze the information once obtained.
Not only are market research experts able to identify and gather the most relevant information to get to the heart of your business, but they also have access to the most trusted secondary data sources (like IBISWorld and Statista), and most importantly know how to analyze the information to gather meaningful insights. They also have the expertise, capacity, and resources to do it faster than doing it yourself.
Experts, like Joorney Business Plans, know how to adequately classify your target market(s) and how to identify the most important questions that need to be addressed for each unique business, and what market research methodologies are best suited to answer them.

How Much Does It Cost to Hire Someone to Conduct Market Research?
Once the value of paying someone to do your market research becomes apparent, the next logical consideration is whether or not you can afford it or how much you should budget. How much market research will cost can vary widely based on a number of factors including:
Generally speaking, pricing will be based on what type of report you expect and the depth of information required. According to one of the most comprehensive sources of market research information on the web, marketresearch.com , average costs for most common types of reports are as follows: