Step 4A - Plan for Alternate Pilot Project

____ in his book_____[] made and interesting comment about small markets like the Canadian market. He said that researchers in small markets were better off to forgo large research projects and use "pilot Projects" instead. He reasoned that where small markets exist, there is little per-capita value in research projects as they are expensive whether they succeed or fail. If they fail, they cost just as much as the research project. If they succeed you have your information plus you are half way to completing your task, all for the same money. In addition, pilot projects can be "tweaked" as one goes along in order to affect the outcome, as success is the objective rather than untainted information. In Formal research, such tweaking to affect the outcome renders the result useless.

Pilot Projects, like formal research projects, must be planned. In the case of pilot projects, there are two layers of planning which must take place:

1. The project itself must be planned, just like any other project.
2. The research component of the project must also be planned.

One drawback of the pilot project approach to research is that either the project or the research can take a back seat to the other or get lost in the excitement along the way. At the end of a pilot project, both project and research components must be evaluated and "mined " for information and results. It is , after all, a "pilot" project, meaning that it is meant to guide the way.