When money is involved, time becomes very precious. You must quickly build a good plan about who you will ask and where you will look. This is, after all, your primary skill others have great difficulty in duplicating - traversing the information sphere swiftly and skillfully. Many researchers today can searching databases. Most researchers are familiar with library work.
Personal research has the added benefit of being part of the learning process.
The first unique skill we must refine is our knowledge of the research tools. Computer databases may be easily accessible, but are not easy to search. Interviewing is conceptually simple, but is not simple. Each aspect of research can be refined, and must be as a professional. Working with information frequently allows us to better judge the reliability and bias of the information we retrieve.