Would you buy a car without researching it? What about a house? Would you give your boss a report you hadn't researched? No, no, and definitely not.  And yet, entrepreneurs frequently try to launch new product campaigns and target new markets without doing marketing research.
According to William Bill at Wealth Design Group LLC in Houston, TX, "Failure to do market research before you begin a business venture or during its operation is like driving a car from Texas to New York without a map or street signs.  You have to know which direction to travel and how fast to go.  A good market research plan indicates where and who your customers are.