When you're searching for information, it can be confusing if you don’t know what you’re looking for. For entrepreneurs, your job is to find as many information as you can. The information ranges from product trend in the market, business strategy, market industry and etc. If you’re already feeling overwhelmed by the extensive research you need to do to start a business, it's time to take a step back and find ways to do research without headaches.
Let's start with the basic. In the simplest form, researching means finding information. Information means a set of ideas that are supported or recommended by experts or the majority in the field. Having that in mind, researching is like putting puzzle pieces together. It requires observing the puzzle pieces, memorizing their shapes and instinctively put the pieces together. With this idea in mind, you're research experience will be less painful. Here are 10 ways to enjoy your researching experience.
10. Have an open mind
Finding information requires an open mind. If your mind is restricted to a certain opinion, then discovering new information that may be useful to your research will not be found.
9. Pretend you’re a treasure hunter
When you're pretending to be a treasure hunter, you're instinct will tell to you find the treasure until it is found. It's the same with trying to find new information. Take a pirate for example, in the movie we all know how pirates act and behave. Their instinct tells them that they need to find the treasure. In order to that, the first step is to find a map.
8. List key questions
Since you need a map to find the treasure, you can design it by listing several key questions. These sets of questions are based on the information you want to find. For example, you can use questions like "How to be an entrepreneurs?" To be more specific, you can use questions like "What are the natural ingredients of natural skincare?" or "why consumers like X product more than the Y product?" These questions will help you in the next step.
7. Have an objective(s)
With the questions you've listed in the previous step, you can come up with an objective(s). An objective is a simple action agenda. For example, one of your question is "What are the natural ingredients found in natural skincare?" Your objective can be "To find a blog that writes about natural ingredients in a skin care product". Make sure to use an active word in the sentence and limit your objectives to only two. Too many objectives will confuse you in the process. Remember, it’s a simple research session not a master degree research topic.
6. Create a plan
Using the list of key questions and the objectives, you can design a map. A plan is sort of like a map. It will guide you to your destination. In this case, an in depth understanding of a topic. This is the stage where you let your imagination run wild.
5. Use keywords
Once you have created a plan, list down several keywords you can use in your research. The keywords need to be based on your research questions and objectives. The reason we have the questions and objectives is to create a more focus research session. Instead of spending hours looking at irrelevant information, you'll instinctively ignore the ones that have nothing to do with your research questions and objectives.
4. Take important notes
Taking important notes help you recall the important things during the research session. Not everyone has a photographic or an eidetic memory. I sure don't! So keep a blank paper or a notebook by your side. You'll never know, it might be handy.
3. Organize your findings
Now that you have found what you're looking for, I bet they are scattered in your paper, notebook or computer. That's alright. The important thing is that you've collected the necessary information based on your research plan. Organizing them in a logical manner helps you to form an opinion. This opinion is valid because it's supported by your research findings.
2. Mind mapping
However, scattered notes can confuse your mind. How in the world would you organize your findings? Simple, use a mind map. I love mind mapping. It helps me organize my thoughts is an orderly manner. In the center of the map, you can write your objectives. The outer branches of the map, you can write your key questions which will be the sub ideas. The outer branches of the key questions will be your findings. To form an opinion, the findings need to be grouped in a category.
1. Categorize your findings
This is the last step. Now you're ready to form an opinion. Before you continue, you want to categorize your findings using generalized terms. For example, you've found that Aloe Vera gel, coconut oil and olive oil are the common ingredients in natural skincare. You can categorize these as natural oils. Categorizing your finding is the step process to form an opinion. Now you need to put these opinions in a sequential order which I will share with you in future posts.
There you have it. 10 ways to have a successful research session. Researching or finding information can be overwhelming. But with a right mindset, simple techniques and organizing skills, it can be enjoyable. By the end of the session, you will feel like you have found a treasure and that treasure is in a form of knowledge.
I hope you enjoy this post as I have enjoyed writing this article very much. As a former scientist, researching has never been fun and it's absolutely boring. But I've learned to make the process enjoyable by incorporating these steps. So if you have a research to do, try to include some of these steps. I bet it will be less painful than not having a strategy at all.