In general, business research refers to any type of researching done when starting or running any kind of business. For examp ... le, starting any type of business requires research into the target customer and the competition to create a business plan. Conducting business market research in existing businesses is helpful in keeping in touch with consumer demand. Small business research begins with researching an idea and a name and continues with research based on customer demand and other businesses offering similar products or services. All business research is done to learn information that could make the company more successful. Business research methods vary depending on the size of the company and the type of information needed. For instance, customer research may involve finding out both a customer’s feelings about and experiences using a product or service. The methods used to gauge customer satisfaction may be questionnaires, interviews or seminars. Researching public data can provide businesses with statistics on financial and educational information in regards to customer demographics and product usage, such as the hours of television viewed per week by people in a certain geographic area. Business research used for advertising purposes is common because marketing dollars must be carefully spent to increase sales and brand recognition from ads. read more