Fiona Norman, our MD, shares her experiences and insights over the last 15 years.
FN Research recently turned 15. That sentence feels slightly strange to write.
In some ways, it feels like only yesterday that I decided to take the leap and start my own business. In other ways, it feels like a lifetime ago.
A lot has happened in those 15 years. We’ve all lived through economic uncertainty, Brexit, Covid, the cost-of-living crisis and changing customer expectations. We’ve seen industries transformed by technology, including AI, and businesses forced to adapt faster than ever before.
Through it all, though, one thing has remained very consistent. The organisations that succeed are usually the ones that know their customers best.
As I reflected on the last 15 years, I started thinking about what advice I would give myself if I could go back to the beginning. Some of it is personal and some of it is professional, but much of it applies just as much to business leaders today as it did when I first started FN Research.
The first thing I would say is believe in yourself.
That sounds obvious, but when you start a business, there is always somebody who knows more, has more experience or appears more successful. It is easy to spend your time looking sideways. What I have learned is that confidence comes from knowing your craft, understanding your subject, having experience and genuinely caring about delivering good work. Trust in yourself.
Over the years, at FN Research we have worked with organisations of every size, from local businesses to public sector bodies and major brands. Many of the biggest successes have started with somebody being willing to trust their expertise and take action.
The second piece of advice is to trust your instincts.
Some of the best decisions I have made came from listening to that quiet voice that said, “This feels right.” Equally, some of the opportunities I am most glad I walked away from were the ones that never felt quite right from the start. I was once told “What is for you,won’t go pass you” and I have quite never forgotten that phrase.
Other business leaders often face similar situations. They are presented with competing opinions, conflicting priorities and endless advice. The challenge is knowing which direction to take.
This is where good market intelligence becomes invaluable. Insight doesn’t replace judgement but it does strengthen it. The best research doesn’t tell people what to do. It gives them confidence that they are making decisions based on evidence rather than assumptions.
I have seen organisations spend months debating issues internally, only for a few conversations with customers to provide the clarity they were looking for.
I remember working with a client who was considering a significant investment in a new service offer. Internally, opinions were split.Some believed demand would be strong, others worried customers wouldn’t see enough value.
Instead of guessing, we spoke directly to customers.
Within weeks, the business had a much clearer understanding of what customers actually wanted, what they were willing to pay for and where the biggest opportunities existed.
That insight helped shape the final strategy and reduced the risk of making an expensive mistake.
The third lesson is stop worrying so much about what everybody else thinks
I confess this one took me a little longer to learn.
As business owners and leaders, many of us want to keep people happy, that includes clients, staff, stakeholders and suppliers. And there is nothing wrong with that.
The challenge comes when you start making decisions based on what you think other people want rather than what the evidence is telling you.
What I have noticed over the years is the strongest organisations are often those with the courage to make focused decisions. They understand who they are. They understand who their customers are. And they are comfortable saying no to opportunities that don’t align with their goals. That clarity usually comes from understanding customers properly. It comes from listening rather than just assuming or guessing.
Over the last 15 years, I have had the privilege of speaking with thousands of people across Northern Ireland and beyond. They have included
- Consumers choosing products.
- Visitors planning trips.
- Homeowners making major financial decisions.
- Energy customers weighing up alternatives.
- Employees sharing experiences.
- Business leaders trying to navigate uncertainty.
Every conversation has reinforced the same lesson. People are rarely as predictable as we think they are. That is why customer understanding matters. It helps organisations see beyond assumptions and uncovers opportunities that might otherwise be missed. It helps businesses focus resources where they will have the greatest impact and most importantly, it helps organisations make better decisions.
Looking back, the last 15 years have certainly had their ups and downs.
There have been multiple awards (of which I am very proud of), exciting projects, fantastic clients, brilliant colleagues and opportunities I could never have imagined when I started.
There have also been challenges, setbacks and lessons learned the hard way but I wouldn’t change any of it. Because every experience has reinforced what FN Research exists to do.
We continue to help organisations understand people better so they can make clearer decisions.
And if there is one thing I know after 15 years, it is this.
The businesses that listen to their customers will always have an advantage over the ones that don’t.
- The channels may change.
- The technology may change.
- Markets may change.
But human behaviour remains at the heart of every business decision.
That is why understanding it has never been more important. As I am constantly saying “Guesswork is not a strategy”.