There are two main possible sources of market information you can use: Primary and Secondary. To collect from primary sources, you must gather first-hand data about your customers and market. In other words, you have to do this yourself. Primary sources include contacting potential customers directly, engaging in conferences, holding focus groups, and conducting interviews. In contrast, secondary research doesn’t take a lot of time and effort. You can collect data from secondary sources. That means using published information as references. This includes data and statistics from your local chamber of commerce, industry reports, associations, and the like. You can also obtain statistics from government agencies such as the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Economic Research Service, etc.