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An overlooked secret of business success: research

Rebecca Jordan

Getting the facts right will always impress.

I love research. I’m one of those people who enjoys googling obscure facts and sifting through library catalogues. A geek, if you like. Research is an essential part of working life, especially if you are setting up your own business. Not doing your research can be embarrassing at best, disastrous at worst.

Last week I got a call from someone trying to sell me search engine optimisation services. The approach wasn’t bad until the salesman informed me in a slightly gleeful tone that one of our websites wasn’t coming up on any Google searches. I said that was odd, as I was online at that point and our website was at the top of the first page. I asked him what keywords he had been searching under. It turned out he had been typing “publishing services” which is probably what we were listed under about five years ago. I suggested that next time he called someone and announced in doom-laden terms that their website was rubbish, he actually looks at it first.

People fail to do the most basic research. One contestant on the Britain’s Next Top Model reality show was asked who her favourite fashion photographer was. She couldn’t name any. I know they aren’t competing to be Britain’s Next Top Rocket Scientist, but surely if you want to be a model it helps to have done more research.

When I read CVs from graduates that say the reason they want to work for us is a passion for travel, I can tell that they haven’t researched what we actually do. So, the CV goes in the “not if you were the last job applicant on earth” pile.

Good research is about lateral thinking. Usually you will either need to locate a specific piece of information within a large amount of information, or you start with a small amount of information and then have to find out more. Some people’s brains can’t cope with either. To search through a large amount of information takes time and patience. Getting bored when the information you need doesn’t appear instantly isn’t going to work. Likewise, expansive research where you start with a snippet which you have to develop into in-depth knowledge cannot be done overnight (no matter how much coffee is involved).

Research takes time, which is something that most of us are short of. Even the information superhighway needs navigating slowly, otherwise you can miss what you are looking for. Plus, of course, the web is full of information that, to put it politely, will need verifying. Whether you are writing a CV or pitching for a contract, finding out facts, and getting them right, is crucial.

Many people seem to think that research, and acquiring new information, is something that you just do at school or university. Even then, you only need enough information to be able to answer specific questions. Once out in the real world, you can blag your way through the world of work quite effectively without learning anything new at all. But you will never be a great employee doing this, and you certainly won’t be able to set up your own business. Research isn’t just about finding out what other people think or know. It is also a means of developing your own ideas. New ideas. And that’s what really makes a great employee, and an innovative business.

If people researched more, and talked less, the world would be a better place. The next time someone at work announces that a market is dwindling, or costs are up across the board, or they made the last cup of tea, ask them what they are basing that statement on. Have they done their research? —

Guardian Newspapers Limited 2007

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