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Inexpensive Market Research Methods You need market research to hit the mark with prospects. But if costly surveys and focus groups aren't in your financial picture, try these creative, budget-friendly ways to get to know your target audience.

By Isabella Trebond

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Would you shell out $200 for a pair of shoes without trying them on? Plunge into a steaming bath without dipping a toe in first? Of course not-but people do the business equivalent every day. Many an entrepreneur has found out too late that nobody wants to buy hand-quilted Christmas stockings at $24.99 a pop, or that moneyed customers won't trudge to the unfashionable part of downtown for luxury stationery.

The paradox: Conventional market research is expensive (corporations regularly budget tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for it), but no one needs it more than a startup entrepreneur. A couple of marketing blunders won't put a giant manufacturer out of business, but just one can sink an entrepreneur with shocking ease.

This article walks you through the basic steps of do-it-yourself market research. We'll skip the tried-and-true but unaffordable techniques-like focus groups, professional surveys and direct-mail questionnaires-and fast forward to ideas for those of us with more creativity than cash. The focus is on startup research, but many of the same techniques can also be used to refine your marketing plan for an existing business or to figure out why it's not flourishing the way you think it should.