One of my favorite television shows is King of Queens. A married couple, Doug and Carrie, are the main characters. They are selfish and self-centered. After being rejected at a number of job interviews, Carrie becomes depressed and tries to find herself. She has great plans to read more, learn more, and do more. She also plans to start her own business. Doug is supportive.

After weeks of staying home, she realizes that she's read nothing, learned nothing and done nothing. She swings into action and starts her own business. She wants to design, manufacture, and market personalized cell phone covers. She hires her father and one of his cronies to decorate the cell phone covers. What she doesn't do is conduct any market research. She's doomed.

Carrie invites friends, associates, Doug's co-workers, and neighbors to her home. With virtually no preamble she launches into a sales presentation. When no one volunteers to buy, she starts assigning phones. She overcomes every objection, but not well.

One friend complains that $49.00 is too much for a phone cover. Carrie responds that he needs to protect his investment. He replies, "The phone was free." Another "sale" has the objection that his phone is a PDA and won't fit Carrie's stock size. She ignores him and crams the PDA into the cell phone cover. With the pressure of the small cover, the phone begins placing a call. When he complains, Carries cracks that he needs new friends anyway.

As her sales party dissolves in shambles, Carrie faces reality. She's worse off than before. She's lost money, she's wasted time, and her support base of friends and neighbors may never speak to her again. Carrie should have conducted market research. She could have had the same party, but used it as a focus group BEFORE any money was spent and time wasted. She could have presented her idea and then written down her group's responses and then she could have used her friends for a brainstorm of ideas. She might have found out right then that her idea wouldn't work, but she also might have discovered other ideas that would fill needs and produce a profit.

Market research is like investing pennies on the dollar. It can save time and money, AND it can present avenues for business that you may have missed. Market research doesn't cost, it saves . . . time, money, and friends.