At the end of last year, I conducted research to understand how market research is being used in organizations.

We heard back from participants that there are three primary obstacles to doing market research: budget, time and lack of internal resources.

This is a familiar story for us as consultants also. These are ALWAYS the obstacles to making huge strides in business whether it has to do with our marketing efforts, our administrative processes, or even in launching new products/services that we offer our clients.

Below are some tips for how to overcome these three ever-present obstacles.

Budget

SOME progress is better than NO progress.  Don’t get overwhelmed by thinking that you can only do a project if you do the biggest, best version of the project. You can make progress toward a goal with small steps and be further along than by doing nothing at all.

Collaborate with experts.  Experts in the area (whether it be a website redesign, launching a new product, or doing layout for new deliverables) can help you decide which portions of the project you want to do in-house vs. hiring someone else; they can also provide flexibility to work within your budget.

Time

Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Contract with an expert that has the time, expertise, and experience (and perhaps template resources/processes that can be adapted for your project to help reduce cycle time). And, again, they can recommend methodologies that will meet your timeframe and still meet your objectives.

Lack of Internal Resources

Use an expert. Choose a firm that has experience in doing the type of project you have in mind and can minimize the amount of time that your team has to spend on the project. You can focus on giving direction on the objectives and review/approve content vs. having to spend time on execution and reporting.

The common answer to each of these obstacles is external resources.  This may seem counter-intuitive when budget is one of the biggest obstacles.  But having a trusted partner figure out how to successfully do SOME part of a project vs. doing NOTHING could be the best investment you make.

I recently invested in a new website design project after suddenly realizing that my website was firmly stuck in the early 2000’s and no longer accurately reflected my current messaging or most profitable type of work that I wanted to promote. It didn’t take me long to take my own advice and to contract with a local digital marketing firm, Detati CommunicationsIt was a GREAT experience and actually allowed me the luxury of stepping back and having a more objective look at my business, my messaging, and how I wanted the world to see me and what I offer. And I’m thrilled with the results! I actually have gotten my first ever SEO-driven lead and was able to point a prospect to my success stories page to grab something for a meeting with decision makers for a new project he was pitching me for…great timing!

See Outsource Easier for some great ideas on how to make sure you don’t get stuck with a great idea because you don’t have the resources to get it done.

Don’t let ANY obstacles get in the way of moving your business forward … the companies who are constantly making improvements to their messaging, branding, etc. are more likely to be able to differentiate themselves from the pack and increase their market share.  We all want to continue moving forward and refreshing things to keep us relevant and differentiated!

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