My neighbours Mr and Mrs Brown are planning to open a local business in their local are. They will need to have a sound financial plan in order to be successful. The Browns think they will need 25,000 pounds for equipment fixtures and fittings and 5,000 pounds for covering the operating costs for three months whilst sales build. They will need to borrow all of this money.
             The Brown's know very little about finance. They had heard that I study Business Studies and that I know about finance. They have approached me for some advice.
             The aims of my research are to provide the Browns with sufficient information on all the possible sources of finance available to them so they are able to set up and run their business and how they should be used. To achieve this I must find out about the different types of finance available to them (internal/external). To do this I have a choice of either using primary research or secondary research. Primary being original research, finding out new information, and getting the exact information I need straight from a current source. Examples of methods of doing this are conducting questionnaires, surveys, and samples. Secondary research on the other hand is previously published data useful for looking at the whole market and analysing past trends. It involves looking at things like market research reports, government publications, and newspaper and magazine articles.
             Advantages of primary research are that it provides data that is up to date, relevant, and specific to your researching needs. Disadvantages are that it is expensive to collect, it is time consuming, and it needs a large sample size to be accurate or valid.
             Advantages of secondary research are that it is more inexpensive than primary; the data is easily found, and instantly available. Disadvantages are that it is not always relevant to your needs, it is not specifically about your products, and it is often out of date; as in text b...