Free market research tools
Survey Monkey allows you to create online surveys for free (max 100 responses). If you don’t have your own email list, for a fee you can specify the type of people you want to take your survey, and Survey Monkey will send your survey to them. AskYourTargetMarket also provide a free unlimited survey tool for sending to your own lists, and offer people to take your survey for a small price per respondent. Look here for other form-building tools.
Free industry data
Free US industry data is available on FreeLunch and you can find useful industry statistics and financial ratios at BizStats. There’s also Business & Industry data on the US office of the Small Business Ombudsmen. There’s also lots of global articles & research available at Quirks.
Market research agencies
For those looking for market research service providers, there’s a free searchable database of UK Suppliers, and a global listing.
Intellectual property
Visit our Intellectual Property and Patents page for more links.