Small businesses, big questions, and limited budgets

Throughout my career, I’ve conducted market research mainly for large Mexican and global brands—companies that typically have an established research culture and allocate significant budgets to listening to their consumers.

But on the other side, there are smaller brands that also have that need, and most of all, the desire, to understand what their current or potential customers think. The reality, however, is that standardized agency fees are often out of reach for this kind of business.

In 2020, my partner and I founded Syncretic, a qualitative research agency that works with major brands—but also supports small businesses and startups. Our philosophy is simple: we believe in democratizing market research and making it accessible for more companies.

So, how do we do it?

First, it’s essential to understand that smaller brands have limited budgets—and we need to be empathetic to that to offer a cost-effective research study without compromising the quality of the results.

One of the key values that makes this possible is creativity. When you know your research methodologies well, you can adapt them to new contexts. In 2022, we had the pleasure of working with the talented chef Paulina Abascal on a study for her cake line, The Wish Cakes.

Taking into account her needs and limitations, we designed a mystery shopper–inspired methodology: we recruited people willing to bring the cakes to their events and report back on how they were received.

As you might imagine, we had no shortage of volunteers. So we selected participants who were responsible and committed to capturing photo and video evidence of the reception, in order to detect potential areas of improvement.

For the brand, this consumer feedback was incredibly valuable—we used it to develop a tailored strategy for their growth plan.

Flexibility in our process has also been key. It means going beyond standard practices—like assuming participants always need a cash incentive. We’ve learned that many people are more than willing to participate in a study if they’re genuinely interested in the product.

In another project for The Positive Foods, a healthy food brand, we recruited people who followed specific diets (Keto, Paleo, low-carb, etc.) and offered them a product kit to try at home.

After trying the products, we brought them together in an online focus group to share their experiences. Most of them told us they were happy just to participate—proving that the product itself was more than enough of an incentive.

Something that surprised and delighted us was what happened at the end of those focus groups: the client joined the session to thank everyone for their participation. It sparked a warm, honest conversation that broke down the usual participant–client barrier. Another sign of how far flexibility can take us.

In the end, it was incredibly rewarding to give both of these brands—regardless of their size—a way to truly listen to their consumers. The insights they gained have been valuable decision-making tools.

Working with startups and small businesses has also taught us lessons we now apply across all our projects: empathy, creativity, and flexibility. Also, you don’t need massive sample sizes or big budgets to hear what your consumers have to say.