The Advantage of Research Data

There’s a very good reason why some of the biggest and most successful multinational companies in this world either have a dedicated in-house research team or make use of professional, specialized research companies to complete that task for them.

That said, while some research for understanding what the people want currently, others may research if their products are safe to use and can be sold. For the latter one, several firms dealing with making new skincare products often opt for the CRO services offered by the likes of VIAL. CRO services can range from drug discovery to commercialization to post-approval services.

However, for the first one, several firms use the help of research firms to understand the needs and desires of people. Professional gamblers value information such as that which offers them SugarHouse bonuses and promotions more than casual gamblers to make an example from a different industry, but in each case, this is some information derived out of some research data which gives the bearer a clear advantage.

There are major advantages to deploying research data as part of your business process planning and implementation strategy, the biggest of which is the fact that you can minimise wastage in as many forms it comes in as possible. Another way to go about this is by using synthetic or simulated data. These data sets might be able to fill the gaps that would have been otherwise present because of real-time data.

Operational efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to running a profitable operation and that’s only available with the strategic deployment of research data. Sure, there are indeed many success stories that were long in the making as a result of the founding partners’ relentless pursuit of success, but ask them one thing they wish they had back when they started out and they’ll tell you that they wish they’d had access to all the information they now have.

This is the reason why most subsequent new ventures an experienced entrepreneur goes on to start are that much likelier to succeed and do indeed succeed. It’s as much about knowing where to access the information you need to increase your chances of success as it is about knowing what to do with that information. After all, raw market data is freely available to those who invest their time or money into the processes of harvesting it, whether or not those are ethical processes.

Now, as is the case with those businesses that have in-house research data collection and analysis divisions, it emerges over time that this is a highly specialised field which goes way beyond making for just another task forming part of regular business operations. Data research and analysis divisions of this kind often grow so big that they become businesses unto themselves. And that is why you hear of so many stories of how a seemingly unrelated business dealing in a specific core industry ends up operating completely as a research data collection and analysis business. Data integration tools like Grouparoo’s Salesforce (look at this site for more info) are also increasingly adopted by businesses to manage their customer data collection easily.

The many permutations and combinations which can be explored as part of the process of organising and analysing the research data obtained result in knowledge that’s so valuable that this data is sold for some handsome sums of money.

For example, if you were merely part of the accounting team of a big firm dealing in the fresh supplies that service the fast food industry, upon your detection of a correlation between something like sesame seeds and the cost of production of those sesame seed buns forming part of premium hamburgers, this is some information which could be bartered with someone who has dedicated their life to day trading. Merely giving it out as advice in exchange for something else of value is a good way to go, so it’s not necessarily about cold hard cash as the medium of exchange.

Colin Shaw
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Written by Colin Shaw

Colin has been in the finance market for over 20 years and specialises in best business practice to make an organisation profitable. The only man for the job when it comes to numbers and accounts with a keen talent for simplifying finance for the wider market.