At some point, every business owner must assess the benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing. A small business owner cannot hope to grow a business without outsourcing some aspects, or else the entire point of having a business will be lost. Losing all your freedom and making tons of money isn’t what you want. You want to have freedom and a balance of life and a business. Therefore when you want to outsource something, it’s important to look the pros and cons of outsourcing that particular project or task.

Cons of Outsourcing Your Market Research

* You must give up control – For some people this might enter into the pros of outsourcing marketing research. However, for most people giving up control is very difficult. You will have some say over the research and what deliverables you want but other than that you’ll have to be hands off and let the experts do what they need to do.

* It can be pricy – Hiring experts to conduct marketing research isn’t cheap. But, you don’t want to lowball it either by hiring people who aren’t really experts, because that can also be pricy. If you don’t have the right budget, you may as well do it yourself.

* They may survey or reach the wrong people – Research companies often have huge databases of consumers that they use to conduct the research with. This may miss the mark as it might not be the right people.

* They don’t know your business like you do – The fact is, no one knows as much about your business as you do, and you cannot expect them to. When letting go of control over the research you’ll also lose some of the personalization that you can offer.

Pros of Outsourcing Your Market Research

* You don’t need to spend the time – The saying that “time is money” is true. If you are busy doing what you do best, it’s going to be really difficult to find the time to conduct market research at all, much less appropriately.

* You get an objective source – Another company isn’t going to be as emotionally attached to the outcome of research as you are. Therefore, they may be able to get more accurate results.

* Professionals have the right tools – Some research tools are super expensive for one business to pay for. Research companies have to buy software and mailing lists and other services that would not be feasible for one business to buy for its own research.

* You can get fast results – Since this is what they do for income, they will have a team of people on your project and be able to offer fast turnaround times.

Once you write down the pros and cons that are unique to your situation, assess your budget and determine how you will go forward. But, whatever you choose, do not skip conducting market research. It is one of the main differences between businesses that succeed long term and those that do not.