Fear can have a powerful chilling effect on business. “A lot of good ideas don’t get turned into companies because the potential founders are too fearful,” Dr. Philipp K. Berger recently told the Wall Street Journal.

A management consultant turned researcher, Dr. Berger surveyed nearly 600 entrepreneurs to better understand the role of fear within start-ups. According to his findings, entrepreneurs are particularly prone to anxiety and decision overload. However, breaking down large decisions into smaller steps can help entrepreneurs cope and keep moving forward.

Market research is an indispensible tool, whether you are launching a new product or fine-tuning your marketing strategy, but some consultants and small business owners assume it will be too costly or time consuming to use on an on-going basis.

“Because of time and budget constraints, many small/mid-sized businesses make consumer insights an afterthought, not realizing that’s precisely what will propel their companies to the next level,” says Renita Bryant, co-founder & chief consultant at SightsSet, a consumer-centric consultancy.

By its very nature, a start-up venture has no customers, no visibility into the market, and no brand awareness. To get these things, you need to invest some of your start-up funds into marketing which includes branding, advertising, and market research.

When working to find the market research report that is going to provide you with all the information you’ve been searching for, sometimes the last thing on your mind is what type of licensing agreement you’re going to need when your purchase the report. A lot of confusion revolves around licensing, specifically who can use it and how can the research be used.

Both new business owners and entrepreneurs take the time to do thorough market analysis before taking a dive into starting a new company. There are a number of key questions one needs to answer before they fully understand the market of their potential industry. Assessing your market  and your market opportunities includes the process of investing time and resources to identify whether or not you will fit into all aspects of the market to make your business profitable.

For most in the business world, there will come a time when you need to assess another company. You might be looking to better understand your competition, or you may need to research potential investment opportunities. But no matter why you need to look into a company, it is important that you have access to the most accurate and useful information to make the best business decisions.

At some point, all entrepreneurs and people beginning their own business are going to be asked about their business model. A business model isn’t a part of your business that you can think of on the spot. Your ideal business model will be determined as you develop as a business and identify the answers to the biggest questions about your business.

Distribution channels are one of the key aspects of driving your business. Listed as one of marketing’s 4 P’s, placement, or distribution, is part of the overall marketing strategy of a business. Whether you are a small or large business owner, it’s important to ensure your business is using the correct distribution channels to get your product to your customer.

Profound is a fantastic cost saving tool for any organization that purchases information on a regular basis, but for the independent consultant, Profound opens up whole new ways of using syndicated research to improve your business. Here are some of the biggest advantages of the service:

Start-up businesses can easily fall short of their dreams and goals by not making the right business decisions. There are so many factors that go into creating a successful enterprise that a lot of businesses don’t think about because they get too focused on their product or idea and don’t look at what could happen in the future.