I Quit My Job to Start a Research Agency

[ORStrat]

So, a year or so ago, I was talking to some contacts in a certain region of the world and I realised the information I was receiving from them was incredibly valuable and potentially monetisable. This, with my experience in strategy consulting and data analysis gave me the idea to start a research agency consultancy - today I decided to quit my job and go all in!

I started off by doing a few freelance market research projects and finding clients on freelance marketplaces. My intention is to do a few more market research projects to hone in my skills, before hiring researchers/analysts and outsourcing the work.

One thing that I'm not 100% sure on is how niche to go: Do I offer general Market Research services for the region? Or Market Research services for tech firms for the region? Or services for FinTech companies looking to penetrate the UAE? Or just market research services for any location/any industry?

In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition. Currently, I'm using sites like Fiverr which is working well, but I'd like to understand how to know what companies to target via cold email. I've got experience in sales/meeting setting, but I need to work out how to apply this to my business - how can I best understand what businesses would be interested in my services?

I write this post to share my journey and keep myself accountable. If anyone has run a successful agency/consultancy - feel free to get in touch! I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading - I will keep y'all updated.

 

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[Practic]

So, a year or so ago, I was talking to some contacts in a certain region of the world and I realised the information I was receiving from them was incredibly valuable and potentially monetisable. This, with my experience in strategy consulting and data analysis gave me the idea to start a research agency consultancy - today I decided to quit my job and go all in!

I started off by doing a few freelance market research projects and finding clients on freelance marketplaces. My intention is to do a few more market research projects to hone in my skills, before hiring researchers/analysts and outsourcing the work.

One thing that I'm not 100% sure on is how niche to go: Do I offer general Market Research services for the region? Or Market Research services for tech firms for the region? Or services for FinTech companies looking to penetrate the UAE? Or just market research services for any location/any industry?

In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition. Currently, I'm using sites like Fiverr which is working well, but I'd like to understand how to know what companies to target via cold email. I've got experience in sales/meeting setting, but I need to work out how to apply this to my business - how can I best understand what businesses would be interested in my services?

I write this post to share my journey and keep myself accountable. If anyone has run a successful agency/consultancy - feel free to get in touch! I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading - I will keep y'all updated.

>In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition.

Without customers you have a hobby, not a business.

The fastest and cheapest way to acquire customers is via referral, revenue sharing, or income sharing program.

 

[Kevin88660]

So, a year or so ago, I was talking to some contacts in a certain region of the world and I realised the information I was receiving from them was incredibly valuable and potentially monetisable. This, with my experience in strategy consulting and data analysis gave me the idea to start a research agency consultancy - today I decided to quit my job and go all in!

I started off by doing a few freelance market research projects and finding clients on freelance marketplaces. My intention is to do a few more market research projects to hone in my skills, before hiring researchers/analysts and outsourcing the work.

One thing that I'm not 100% sure on is how niche to go: Do I offer general Market Research services for the region? Or Market Research services for tech firms for the region? Or services for FinTech companies looking to penetrate the UAE? Or just market research services for any location/any industry?

In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition. Currently, I'm using sites like Fiverr which is working well, but I'd like to understand how to know what companies to target via cold email. I've got experience in sales/meeting setting, but I need to work out how to apply this to my business - how can I best understand what businesses would be interested in my services?

I write this post to share my journey and keep myself accountable. If anyone has run a successful agency/consultancy - feel free to get in touch! I'd love to hear from you!

Thanks for reading - I will keep y'all updated.

Investment research has more than enough paying clients.

Seeking alpha is one on general securities. Biggest market for mainstream retail investors to gain access to good editorial. 2-300 dollars a year for subscription.

In Crypto there is Delphi research that charge 100 USD per month for subscription.

 

[Creator]

Congratulations on your new business! Try not to get overwhelmed with all the work setting up everything in the beginning.

Do you mind to elaborate, what kind of market research do you plan doing? What is the stereotypic customer you plan to serve? What is the problem of theirs you solve?

 

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[ORStrat]

Investment research has more than enough paying clients.

Seeking alpha is one on general securities. Biggest market for mainstream retail investors to gain access to good editorial. 2-300 dollars a year for subscription.

In Crypto there is Delphi research that charge 100 USD per month for subscription.

Yes, I am definitely considering this in my business plan.

 

[ORStrat]

Congratulations on your new business! Try not to get overwhelmed with all the work setting up everything in the beginning.

Do you mind to elaborate, what kind of market research do you plan doing? What is the stereotypic customer you plan to serve? What is the problem of theirs you solve?

So far I've been helping tech firms understand how to penetrate markets. For example, I did a market analysis of Qatar & UAE for a mobility firm that wanted to launch there. Then I helped an Events app understand its competition and the local market—things like that.

 

[ORStrat]

>In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition.

Without customers you have a hobby, not a business.

The fastest and cheapest way to acquire customers is via referral, revenue sharing, or income sharing program.

I have customers, so it's a business. But it's still my weakness acquiring them. My expertise is in fulfilling the work. I'm new to this.

And I agree them methods definitely work as they incentivise people to give you customers - I just need to work out a good way of implementing them into my sales structure!

 

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[Practic]

I just need to work out a good way of implementing them into my sales structure!

"I just need to work out a good way of implementing them into my sales structure!"

Tell you current customers that you want to implement such type of program. Ask them what payment structure would they prefer to have (number of levels in a payment scheme, percents on each level, etc.). When they will have stable income streams from your business they will consider themselves like investors in your business and therefore will put more efforts to help you acquire more new customers.

 

[ORStrat]

1 Week update: Business going well, I managed to complete 2 projects for clients and get five-star reviews. One was lead generation leveraging my industry knowledge, one was a market research report for a company entering a new market.

I have decided lead sourcing for new clients is taking too much of my time so I am going to outsource it. I intend to get names for all new tech companies and investment funds etc. within the region that I am specialising in.

I'm going to post a job to hire someone soon and hopefully outsource some work. I really need to get some higher-paying clients for this though. Hopefully outsourcing lead gen will help with this.

I also spoke to a couple of industry professionals who have given me some tips too.

Let's go!

 

[BizyDad]

Following.

Sounds like a great idea for a business.

 

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[WillHurtDontCare]

Tie machine learning + chat gpt to whatever you're doing, since those are hot topics that are still related to data analysis.

You can also use LinkedIn sales navigator or apollo io to find companies and people who are similar to the clients that you've delivered results for in the past. And think of your LinkedIn page like a mini landing page.

 

[ORStrat]

Tie machine learning + chat gpt to whatever you're doing, since those are hot topics that are still related to data analysis.

You can also use LinkedIn sales navigator or apollo io to find companies and people who are similar to the clients that you've delivered results for in the past. And think of your LinkedIn page like a mini landing page.

Yeah, my background involves a lot of data science/machine learning so intend to implement that too. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[ORStrat]

Following.

Sounds like a great idea for a business.

Thank you, sir.

 

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[ORStrat]

1 Month Update: So I've been at this for about a month now and it's not going too bad. I've got a few clients here and there. Probably going to hit around the $1500 mark for this month, which isn't amazing but I'm happy. I did about $700 for the last month, but I spent a lot of time setting up and working low level projects.

I had an interview with a client for a $5000 project but I just missed out, they were happy with my desire and communication but said they'd found a firm with more experience - which I fully understood. Hopefully I set a good impression for them as I went above and beyond on the proposal and they seemed really happy with my enthusiasm for their business.

I really need to start finding larger paying clients. My current clients are paying around $500 per piece, i'm hoping to get that up to $1000 in the near future. I'm definitely seeing improvements though as i'm constantly being able to charge more, albeit in short increments.

Overall, it's slightly stressfull and frustrating as it's hard work for little money. I was earning much more than this in my job with less responsbility and work! But hey, this is exactly what I signed up for!

The plan is to hire a freelancer soon and stop fulfilling the work myself. Me and a friend have also built some software which is really cool and we're trying to pitch it to VCs. Onwards and upwards!

 

[ORStrat]

3 Month Update: All is going ok, but I decided to take 2 weeks off due to feeling exhausted, I have worked non-stop with no break since November 2022. During my time off, I worked a little, but did no big projects. I went on holiday for 4 days and I also went to see friends I hadn't seen in years. Athough I wasn't productive during those weeks, I do feel a lot better, as I was starting to feel burnt out. Now I am working much better and being more productive. Lesson learned, you need time off to replenish your energy and mind!

I have done a few projects in the last couple months and they have all gone ok. One client is still yet to pay and I am having to chase them up. I'm also trying to hire, so I can outsource my work and work on my business rather than in my business. I'm also getting frustrated with clients asking me to do things and then pulling out at the last minute, but I guess that is the service industry for you. I'm still using sites to get gigs, and I need to build some cold emailing system to get new work and automate that as much as possible.

Overall, everything is going ok. I need to hire and get some new projects in this week. Then do cold outreach and start building my social media. I'm also thinking if market research doesn't work, I'll pivot towards media, I'll make a YouTube and build my blog and start a podcast - as there are none of these in my niche. I'm starting to hate service based work as I'm constantly dealing with people and people can often be rubbish.

My goals over the next month are: Hire, outsource work, get better paying clients. If I fail on these, pivot to media.

 

[Creator]

3 Month Update: All is going ok, but I decided to take 2 weeks off due to feeling exhausted, I have worked non-stop with no break since November 2022. During my time off, I worked a little, but did no big projects. I went on holiday for 4 days and I also went to see friends I hadn't seen in years. Athough I wasn't productive during those weeks, I do feel a lot better, as I was starting to feel burnt out. Now I am working much better and being more productive. Lesson learned, you need time off to replenish your energy and mind!

I have done a few projects in the last couple months and they have all gone ok. One client is still yet to pay and I am having to chase them up. I'm also trying to hire, so I can outsource my work and work on my business rather than in my business. I'm also getting frustrated with clients asking me to do things and then pulling out at the last minute, but I guess that is the service industry for you. I'm still using sites to get gigs, and I need to build some cold emailing system to get new work and automate that as much as possible.

Overall, everything is going ok. I need to hire and get some new projects in this week. Then do cold outreach and start building my social media. I'm also thinking if market research doesn't work, I'll pivot towards media, I'll make a YouTube and build my blog and start a podcast - as there are none of these in my niche. I'm starting to hate service based work as I'm constantly dealing with people and people can often be rubbish.

My goals over the next month are: Hire, outsource work, get better paying clients. If I fail on these, pivot to media.

Thanks for the update! You're making good progress there mate. Make sure you take care of yourself also in the future and keep lookout for any burnout symptoms.

My friend had a burnout multiple years ago and still hasn't fully recovered. Its nothing to play with.

What comes to service based business or business in general is that clients can be PITA. The key for me was to charge more, which lead to more respect from clients and less of the cheapskate-with-untealistic-expectations types.

Keep up the good work!

 

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[ORStrat]

Thanks for the update! You're making good progress there mate. Make sure you take care of yourself also in the future and keep lookout for any burnout symptoms.

My friend had a burnout multiple years ago and still hasn't fully recovered. Its nothing to play with.

What comes to service based business or business in general is that clients can be PITA. The key for me was to charge more, which lead to more respect from clients and less of the cheapskate-with-untealistic-expectations types.

Keep up the good work!

Thanks.

And I thought burnout wasn't real, I think I have binge watched/read too much David Goggins/Jocko Willink etc. but have now realised that self-care is a key to success. It's like caring for your car, oiling it, cleaning it, getting it checked, rather than overusing it.

And yes, I agree, I'm aiming to charge more. To one client, I proposed a seriously reduced rate to close him and he said 'way too expensive' - just shows what sort of people you are playing with at that end. Charging higher is definitely the way to go!

 

[Roli]

One thing that I'm not 100% sure on is how niche to go: Do I offer general Market Research services for the region? Or Market Research services for tech firms for the region? Or services for FinTech companies looking to penetrate the UAE? Or just market research services for any location/any industry?

My advice is, unless the area you were working in as a job is not very lucrative, niche down there. If it isn't particularly lucrative, then follow the money. For instance is Fintech more lucrative than tech? Are companies just looking for general research going to pay as much as those looking to move to the UAE? Is the UAE the best place to niche?

they were happy with my desire and communication but said they'd found a firm with more experience - which I fully understood.

Hopefully you have rid yourself of this mindset, of course you can't compete on experience, what you do compete on is value. You started this business because you realised the info you were privy to was valuable. Don't ever accept a client going to another company based on "experience". Next time you need to outline ex

I really need to start finding larger paying clients. My current clients are paying around $500 per piece, i'm hoping to get that up to $1000 in the near future. I'm definitely seeing improvements though as i'm constantly being able to charge more, albeit in short increments.

Again this comes down to value, I would check out @Fox's thread on starting a web business, he has some real insight into value and how to convey it to clients.

I'm also getting frustrated with clients asking me to do things and then pulling out at the last minute,

This sounds like you aren't billing properly or you haven't made your billing policy clear to your clients.

The saying "time is money" is even more relevant for someone like yourself, considering you are literally charging for the time used to research for your clients.

Therefore you have to make it very clear to everyone from the start, that once things go beyond a certain level, they should expect an invoice for your time.

It's good you are hiring a freelancer and the business seems to be going well, it just sounds like you need a bit of confidence in your own ability, which in turn will have a positive effect on your pricing policies.

 

[StrikingViper69]

>In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition.

Without customers you have a hobby, not a business.

The fastest and cheapest way to acquire customers is via referral, revenue sharing, or income sharing program.

That's a blanket statement that may be true for some business, but not others. The fastest way is whatever way works best, which he'll only discover after some trial and error.

 

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[ORStrat]

That's a blanket statement that may be true for some business, but not others. The fastest way is whatever way works best, which he'll only discover after some trial and error.

Yup, and I still have customers. I just need to improve my acqusition system.

 

[ORStrat]

My advice is, unless the area you were working in as a job is not very lucrative, niche down there. If it isn't particularly lucrative, then follow the money. For instance is Fintech more lucrative than tech? Are companies just looking for general research going to pay as much as those looking to move to the UAE? Is the UAE the best place to niche?



Hopefully you have rid yourself of this mindset, of course you can't compete on experience, what you do compete on is value. You started this business because you realised the info you were privy to was valuable. Don't ever accept a client going to another company based on "experience". Next time you need to outline ex



Again this comes down to value, I would check out @Fox's thread on starting a web business, he has some real insight into value and how to convey it to clients.



This sounds like you aren't billing properly or you haven't made your billing policy clear to your clients.

The saying "time is money" is even more relevant for someone like yourself, considering you are literally charging for the time used to research for your clients.

Therefore you have to make it very clear to everyone from the start, that once things go beyond a certain level, they should expect an invoice for your time.

It's good you are hiring a freelancer and the business seems to be going well, it just sounds like you need a bit of confidence in your own ability, which in turn will have a positive effect on your pricing policies.

Yeah for sure, just think I need a bit more confidence, improved value proposition and an improved customer acquisition channel.

 

[ORStrat]

3 and a half month update: So everything is going pretty well and although it's not long since my last update, there have been a few changes, so I thought that I'd write an update.

On Friday, I managed to sign 2 clients for a report each. Both beat my record fees so far, I charged $1000 and $1500. Before this the most i'd charged was $500. So, I've gone from charging $500 for a report to $1500 in the space of a couple months.

I'm hoping to continue gaining experience and being able to provide higher expertise and better quality work so I can charge more. More value = more money. I am also a little nervous, as for one of the clients, the report seems quite difficult to do, so I do wonder if I have made the right decision by taking a difficult project on. But my plan is to work really hard at it, communicate well with the client and get it submitted way before the deadline.

I've also had some interest from a prominent VC fund about my software. But I'm thinking of turning that down if they do offer me funding, as I'd rather self fund. And with how my research/consuling business is going, i'm not sure i'll have the time.

A BIG thing I need to consider too is niching down. Initially my niche was going to be a geographic location, as it's my area of expertise. Think helping businesses understand China, for example. But, all the work I'm getting is global, mainly UK/Europe, and for a number of different industries. From event ticketing companies, to battery companies to e-scooter companies. Ideally I want to niche down soon, so I don't have to keep being a generalist and doing different industries. But I'm really not sure what niche to pick and how to quantify the opportunity of each niche (without doing full scale research).

Hopefully, by June I will have completed the two reports mentioned above and received solid testimonials. Going to give it my all for now. Will report back then. Posting this is good for reflection and accountability. Lets go.

 

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[Roli]

I'm hoping to continue gaining experience and being able to provide higher expertise and better quality work

Have you identified exactly what that experience is? Sometimes it's easy to tell ourselves "we need more experience" and we kind of lump it all in together. However sometimes it is rarely about general experience we need, it is something very specific, eg. learning a particular bit of software, learning to speak a particular language, or understanding a niche aspect of our business.

I've also had some interest from a prominent VC fund about my software. But I'm thinking of turning that down if they do offer me funding, as I'd rather self fund. And with how my research/consuling business is going, i'm not sure i'll have the time.

This is good, make sure you asses whether self-funding will get you there in the same time, with the same impact as being funded.

If funding will help you realise your dream by a significant amount of time less, then it well may be worth considering.

A BIG thing I need to consider too is niching down. Initially my niche was going to be a geographic location, as it's my area of expertise. Think helping businesses understand China, for example. But, all the work I'm getting is global, mainly UK/Europe, and for a number of different industries. From event ticketing companies, to battery companies to e-scooter companies. Ideally I want to niche down soon, so I don't have to keep being a generalist and doing different industries. But I'm really not sure what niche to pick and how to quantify the opportunity of each niche (without doing full scale research).

The market often tells us what we need to hear, rather than what we want. Make sure you're not just niching down for the sake of it. Perhaps the general approach is what will keep the business rolling in. As you move forwards, you are gathering info from multiple industries which you can reuse time and again.

The fact you are already niching in a geographical sense, may be the only specialisation you need.

Great to hear you've upped your prices, I can see more increases on the horizon as you gain more confidence in the value you offer your clients.

Keep it up!

 

[ORStrat]

Have you identified exactly what that experience is? Sometimes it's easy to tell ourselves "we need more experience" and we kind of lump it all in together. However sometimes it is rarely about general experience we need, it is something very specific, eg. learning a particular bit of software, learning to speak a particular language, or understanding a niche aspect of our business.

Yes, I have - I need to develop my research methods toolkit along with project delivery skills. I'm noticing a correlation between my experience and the amount I charge, so it's going well. All in all, just need a few more projects under my belt. Each project also exposes me to different research methods which broadens my capabilties and allows me to charge more.

This is good, make sure you asses whether self-funding will get you there in the same time, with the same impact as being funded.

If funding will help you realise your dream by a significant amount of time less, then it well may be worth considering.

For sure, totally agree on this.

The market often tells us what we need to hear, rather than what we want. Make sure you're not just niching down for the sake of it. Perhaps the general approach is what will keep the business rolling in. As you move forwards, you are gathering info from multiple industries which you can reuse time and again.

The fact you are already niching in a geographical sense, may be the only specialisation you need.

Yes, that's so true. The market is the best test for us. I think I probably should stay general for now. I'm just trying to niche for 2 reasons (that are very interlinked):
1) I'll have expertise of said niche, so i'll be the go to guy and I won't have the challenge of learning a completely different industry each project
2) I'll be doing projects all in the field, which means more data, more expertise -> I can charge more & really become an expert in the field.

I've tried to niche down in a geographic said, but most of the work isn't even coming in for that region. It's all EU/UK. Maybe I should reconsider this niche, because as you said, market tells us the truth! I think it's best though I stay general for now for a while!

Thanks for the response btw!

 

[Roli]

1) I'll have expertise of said niche, so i'll be the go to guy and I won't have the challenge of learning a completely different industry each project
2) I'll be doing projects all in the field, which means more data, more expertise -> I can charge more & really become an expert in the field.

Okay I think this comes back to your previous work around your job? Have you utilised contacts as much as you can? I understand some companies in certain industries make you sign stuff to stop you contacting clients for at least 2 years after you leave, however if you haven't got any such restraints, keep plugging away.

Also remember that even though you want a decision maker for the end point, you may well find a great contact lower down the chain so to speak. Sometimes people in HR, the post room, or personal assistants are great contacts to have as they have their ear to the ground and can alert you to upcoming changes.

I've tried to niche down in a geographic said, but most of the work isn't even coming in for that region. It's all EU/UK. Maybe I should reconsider this niche, because as you said, market tells us the truth! I think it's best though I stay general for now for a while!

Yeah best to and if you're ever in the UK (London), hit me up!

Thanks for the response btw!

No worries, it's nice to see you forging ahead, I'm just glad to chip in a small contribution towards your journey.

 

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[ORStrat]

Okay I think this comes back to your previous work around your job? Have you utilised contacts as much as you can? I understand some companies in certain industries make you sign stuff to stop you contacting clients for at least 2 years after you leave, however if you haven't got any such restraints, keep plugging away.

I need to do that, I've not been doing too much outreach as I have a solid steady flow of work to last me.

Yeah best to and if you're ever in the UK (London), hit me up!

I'm based in London actually!

 

[MRiabov]

>In addition, I'm not too savvy in customer acquisition.

Without customers you have a hobby, not a business.

The fastest and cheapest way to acquire customers is via referral, revenue sharing, or income sharing program.

or funnels. Good funnels.

 

[ORStrat]

I'm glad that everything is going well for you and it is great that you took a break to rest.

I know that you have already made the decision, but I want to add my two cents in the hope it will be helpful for someone else.

Choosing between market research services and services for FinTech companies depends on the specific needs and goals of a business. Market research services can provide valuable insights into customer behavior, market trends, and competition, which can be useful for any industry. However, if a business operates in the FinTech sector, it may be more beneficial to hire fintech consultants who have specialized knowledge and experience in areas such as financial regulations, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. If this is your case, I suggest reading the information here https://devspiration.com/blog/guide-on-hiring-fintеch-consultant/ Hopefully, you will find it useful.

Thanks for the response!

I decided to stay completely away from finance and FinTech as although they are my interests, it could potentially cause a conflict of interest with past/current employers (I have a part time job in banking). But yes, agree on the hiring a consultant with relevant experience for sure.

I've been doing lot's of general work and my plan to niche is becoming clearer as I go. I'm currently doing a lot of competitor analysis and customer interviews. So, I'm going to stay general for a while and then try and work out which industry has the most demand for me to niche down. I'll then be able to use all my data that I have gathered from that industry to provide better quality consulting, research and information. So I'll specialise in that industry and focus on competitor analysis and customer intel. E.g if I work with lots of gaming clients, and there's lots of demand for gaming market research, i'll specialise in gaming and leverage past work. Then I could hire someone with expertise/passion for gaming.

 

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[StrikingViper69]

Thanks for the response!

I decided to stay completely away from finance and FinTech as although they are my interests, it could potentially cause a conflict of interest with past/current employers (I have a part time job in banking). But yes, agree on the hiring a consultant with relevant experience for sure.

I've been doing lot's of general work and my plan to niche is becoming clearer as I go. I'm currently doing a lot of competitor analysis and customer interviews. So, I'm going to stay general for a while and then try and work out which industry has the most demand for me to niche down. I'll then be able to use all my data that I have gathered from that industry to provide better quality consulting, research and information. So I'll specialise in that industry and focus on competitor analysis and customer intel. E.g if I work with lots of gaming clients, and there's lots of demand for gaming market research, i'll specialise in gaming and leverage past work. Then I could hire someone with expertise/passion for gaming.

Maybe your niche is a certain type of problem, rather than a certain of industry?

 

[ORStrat]

Maybe your niche is a certain type of problem, rather than a certain of industry?

Thanks for the response. That is something i've considered, but by niching down by an industry will allow me to collect data. So, for example, if I niche down into the Gardening industry, and I've interviewed and researched hundreds of gardening customers and stores, I will be very hot on with what's going on in the industry. I'll have much more data to draw from. etc. etc.

Maybe it's a certain type of problem within an industry. E.g. pricing strategy for the esports industry...