To Answer Your Question

 18 March 2021

Several people messaged asking me why did I not start a Market Research agency - after all I had spent my entire career in MR? So why get into an area that seeks to consult entrepreneurs in more general areas of running their business?

To answer the question : I have not abandoned MR; it is still a part of what I do - albeit only a small part.  And that is because I believe MR professionals have a lot more to offer to the success of a business than merely "providing  insights to aid better decision making".

Most MR professionals I believe are really really smart - but we unfortunately tend to limit ourselves : "Here is the answer to your question. So now let me move on"  seems to be the motto.

The reality is that apart from being smart "insighters" - some of us are - or were - also very good managers of Businesses.  We functioned almost like successful entrepreneurs - after all many of us successfully - and very profitably - managed MR business despite all its challenges of operating like a cottage industry (yes, despite the global consolidations). If we could run businesses successfully in such trying circumstances - the under-pricing, the superficial differentiation, the challenge of declining quality when scale expands - then surely we can help entrepreneurs in other industries who seem to suffer from very similar challenges - whether it be in managing cash flows or deciding what kind of talent to hire?

And other industries can learn a lot from some of the serious and short-sighted mistakes that we as MR leaders made (e.g.not reading the technology trend correctly, not investing in Tech, and not changing the profile of our new hires 15 years ago).  We as leaders were a bit too smug and short-sighted - though of course we grumbled about the declining status of the MR industry and made half-hearted attempts at correcting it. 

And yes, I regret to admit I am one of these leaders. 

Which is why I feel that as leaders (or ex-leaders) in MR we have something very valuable to offer to other businesses.  And what we have to offer goes much beyond the day-to-day  running of a business profitably and efficiently : it is also about the learnings from our very costly mistakes of not preparing adequately for the future. Mistakes that we must ensure other enterprises and industries never repeat.

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