How do you approach early-stage research for niche or underreported markets?

Hi Folks,

I’ve been building something on the side to help with market scans in areas where data is scarce—think regions or sectors with little analyst coverage or syndicated reporting. It got me thinking: how do professionals here approach that kind of research?

When you're working on a project that doesn't fit neatly into available databases or well-covered industries, do you rely on news monitoring, expert interviews, proxy metrics… or something else entirely?

Would love to hear how others in this sub go about gathering insights in these kinds of situations. If anyone's open to sharing their process or common pain points, I’d appreciate the perspective—especially if you're doing custom research or competitive intel in tricky domains.

Not trying to pitch anything, just genuinely curious how folks in here handle the murky stuff.