Virgil,
Congrats on getting started on your business idea. And it's good to keep your day job and work on your idea. That's smart.
You had asked two questions:
Who would you use? I recommend that you use someone who can do some
value addition (meaning who can do some analysis) and not just someone
who can collate data. You can enhance the value you get if the
person/company understands your context and filters information. I
would recommend that you sign a 'work for hire' agreement so you get
intellectual property in that research and it is kept confidential.
I would also recommend that you limit the scope of the research so know what you want. I know you had already detailed it, but do detail it with the person you hire as well because that will set the right expectations and so you can get what you want.
How much would you expect to pay? The answer to this question depends
on the nature of the business you want researched and value you want from the research. If
there are incumbent players in that space and information is easily
available and it's just simple stuff that you had mentioned in your
question, then the cost could be as low as $200. It will be higher based on want of information/research/analysis required.
I myself have experience in doing research both for clients and for myself. If you need help in understanding any further, you could write to me at chaitanya DOT sagar AT p2w2 DOT com
[Disclaimer: I run p2w2] I would also suggest you consider using p2w2.com - there, you can find quality people who can do your work at a good price.
Here are a few samples of folks who can do it:
http://www.p2w2.com/shobanaa_anand
(to view profiles below, replace "shobanaa_anand" in the link above with text below)
gunjannagpalchaitanya_sagarSahitijenlywan
