PS Research is five.
Given only 38% of UK businesses survive for five years, we’re not doing too bad.
We wrote a blog when we came together, so it seemed only right to mark this milestone with another.
5 things that have changed
1. Size of projects
By coming together, we’ve been able to deliver bigger as well as smaller projects. On average, a project in our first year was £4k (and the biggest was £16k). This last year, the average was £7k (and the biggest was £28k).
2. Type of projects
With quant and qual under one roof, we love taking on mixed methods projects. We’re increasingly working on evaluations where we can bring together a combination of data analysis, surveys and qual.
3. We’re award-winning
In 2023, we were Highly Commended at the Market Research Society (MRS) awards for our work evaluating a participant-led employability programme in Cumbria. That was nice.
4. Our rates (let’s be honest)
Our experience and expertise have grown over the last 5 years and so have our rates. We’d like to think we’re still pretty good value though. And giving back is important to us too, whether that’s through in-kind services, discounts or donations.
5. Everything…
What hasn’t happened over the last 5 years? We were just coming out of a global pandemic. We’ve then had political upheaval (polite term), international wars and a cost of living crisis. We’ve had to adapt and evolve as AI has grown. And Adam now has a four-year-old daughter to interrupt client calls and remind him that there’s more to life than work.
5 things that haven’t
1. Type of organisations we work with
We continue to work with purpose-driven organisations like charities, museums and local authorities. We're lucky to work with some lovely clients and those relationships have built over time. Many of those we were working with in 2021, we’re still working with now.
2. Clients always work with us
This has been a non-negotiable for us since day one and we won’t compromise on that. We believe it’s what makes smaller consultancies different, you work with us every step of the way. We’re honest with people and don’t just take everything on. If we’re not right for a project, we tell you.
3. Why we do it
We work for ourselves because we enjoy what we do, we like working from home and we value the freedom and flexibility it brings.
4. We never know quite how things are looking
It can feel like we have too much work on. Or we’re worrying there won’t be enough. Things in the pipeline which may or may not come off. All at the same time. It tends to work itself out though. This LinkedIn post sums it up.
5. Pitching for work can still be a nightmare
Don’t get us wrong, we’ve had some good experiences. But we’ve had some stinkers too. Ghosting. Goalposts changing. Clearly being used and making up the numbers. It certainly doesn’t feel like it’s got any better over the last 5 years (and we know we’re far from alone). It’s probably a good time to re-share AURA’s Working Well Together Charter.
What’s our plan for the next 5 years?
We’ll be pretty happy if we’re still here in another 5 years. It’ll mean we’re continuing to do good work for good people.
We didn’t have a 5-year strategy or growth plan when we started and it worked out ok for us (we’ve even taken someone on recently), so we can’t see ourselves changing.
Although we do need to get better at marketing and shouting about what we do.
And on that note, we've had a bit of a brand refresh to mark 5 years of PS Research. Same name and logo. New colour palette, photography and some website tweaks. We practiced what we preach and brought in the experts. So thanks to Frankie Tortora for the branding, Marge Bradshaw for the photography and Dave Smyth for the website.
Here’s to the next 5 years.
Adam and Emma