Financial research or financial analysis is known as the course of assessing businesses, projects, budgets and other finance-related bodies to decide their performance and fitness. One can use financial analysis to check if the business or project or budget is stable or solvent or liquid or profitable enough to permit a monetary investment. On the other hand, Market research is the course of measuring the feasibility of a new good or service through research conducted directly with the consumer. Since this practice is done straight with the consumers, it helps the company to discover the target market and record direct inputs from the customers.
Goals of Financial Research and Analysis
Profitability – With the help of the income statement of the company, profitability can be measured.
Solvency & Liquidity – Based on the company’s balance sheet, its ability to maintain positive cash flow and its ability to pay its obligation can be calculated.
Stability – Besides the income statement and the balance sheet, other financial and non-financial indicators help find the ability of the company to remain in business in the long run.
Method of Financial Analysis
Comparing financial ratios like solvency, profitability, growth etc., past performance of the company is recorded. Extrapolating those values, the future performance can be foreseen and can be manipulated accordingly. Data scraping also helps in this when comparing between similar firms.
Goals of Market Research
Market research is a way of getting an impression of consumers’ wishes, needs and opinions. It can also involve discovering how they act.
Market research can guarantee the success of marketing campaigns, and in-turn sales. It can help the company keep a tab on the competitors. Market research can also help minimize loss in business.
Types of Market Research Information
Market research typically involves two types of data:
Primary information- the company itself or a third-party company does the research.
Secondary information- the data is already compiled by reports and studies by govt. agencies, trade associations etc. Data scraping helps in collecting the data.
Primary research can be done in a few ways like- direct mail, telephone or personal interviews.
In direct mail questionnaire, response is usually low. 3-5% is the usual response where in telephonic interviews success rate is higher. Speed and cost effectiveness are also advantages for telephonic interviews. However, personal interviews are the most effective form of marketing research. They can also be of two types: A group survey (used mostly by big business) and the in-depth review (one-on-one interviews).
In conclusion, we can say that financial and market research are both very important for a company. The ratios in financial analysis indicates how well the company is utilizing its equity investment. It is also important for small business owners to understand and use financial analysis because investors and outside analysts measure this for a company’s success. Marketing research is needed on a continual basis to keep up with the latest market trends and gain a competitive edge in the business market. Understanding market research and using it to advantage is vital in reaching out to the target audience and increasing the sales.