W212: Explore Entreprenuership
Business/SPEA Information Commons
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Entrepreneur's Research Toolkit
"Somewhere between scribbling your idea on a cocktail napkin and starting a business, there is a process you need to carry out that essentially determines either your success or failure in business" (How to Research Your Business Idea, http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/70518). What is that process? Research.
Below is a select list of resources that can be used to research aspects of a business concept. Additional sources can be found at the Business/SPEA Information Commons Small Business and Entrepreneurship Research Guide.
Business Ideas:
What are the costs involved?
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Annual Statement Studies: Financial Ratio Benchmarks The print Annual Statement Studies: Financial Ratio Benchmarks available at the Business/SPEA Information Commons Reference Desk (HF5681.B2 R6) provides composite financial data on manufacturing, wholesaling, retailing, service and contracting lines of business. |
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The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides labor and productivity costs as well as wage information for various industries. Other applicable demographic and consumer data as well. Here is a site that allows you to search BLS wage data by area and occupation. |
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Dun & Bradstreet Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios The print Dun & Bradstreet Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios available at the Business/SPEA Information Commons Reference Desk (HF5681.R25 I525) provides financial information and ratios for over 800 different lines of business in all size ranges and including private and publicly owned companies. |
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Financial Studies of Small Business The print Financial Studies of Small Business available at the Business/SPEA Information Commons Circulation Desk (HD2346 .U5 F55) provides financial information and ratios small business categories. sample |
Who is your target consumer?
Demographics:
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American Factfinder provides population, housing, economic, and geographic data and maps for the United States and individual states, counties, and municipalities. |
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Proquest Statistical provides electronic access to tables and citations to statistics produced by the U.S. federal, state and local governments, international governmental organizations, and non-governmental organizations. |
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WDI Online produced by the World Bank includes statistical data for over 550 development indicators and time series data from 1960-2000 for over 200 countries and 18 country groups. Data includes social, economic, financial, natural resources, and environmental indicators. |
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Expenditures/Needs:
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The Consumer Expenditure Survey consists of two surveys, the quarterly Interview Survey and the Diary Survey, that provide information on the buying habits of American consumers, including data on their expenditures, income, and consumer unit (families and single consumers) characteristics. |
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RDS Business Reference Suite includes full-text articles from trade and industry publications, regional, national and international newspapers, business dailies, and management journals. Use the TableBase feature to find data/statistics on consumer expenditures for various product categories. |
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The Survey of Consumer Finances is a triennial survey of the balance sheet, pension, income, and other demographic characteristics of U.S. families. The survey also gathers information on the use of financial institutions. |
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Lifestyle Factors:
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Marketresearch.com is a market research database that provides information on products, trends, regions, demographics, and companies. |
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Mintel Reports is a market research database with reports, news, and company information. NOTE: The first time you use the database you will need to create a company profile. |
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Passport GMID: Global Market Information Database Passport GMID provides demographic, economic and marketing statistics for 205 countries, as well as detailed income, expenditure and lifestyle statistics. Access 4500 consumer lifestyle reports. |
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Is there a market for the product or service?
Market Size & Growth Potential:
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Simply Map is a web-based mapping application that lets users create professional-quality thematic maps and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data. NOTE: You will need to create an account (username and password) the first time you use this resource. |
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A library database that provides detailed information on more than 14 million U.S. businesses, 210 million U.S. residents, 855,000 U.S. health care providers as well as 12 million Canadian businesses. |
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The U.S. Population Projections provides projections for resident populations by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origins. |
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What are current and predicted trends for the industry?
Industry Reports & News:
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Factiva contains more than 25,000 sources including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and the Dow Jones and Reuters newswires. |
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MarketLine Business Information Center MarketLine company reports contain in-depth company information, including key executives and biographies, analysis, latest news, rankings, and financial deals. |
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Standard & Poor's Netadvantage Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage provides qualitative and quantitative research and analysis covering 55 industries. |
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Who are my competitors?
Identification:
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Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Database U.S. Public and Private Companies. Can search by geography, industry codes, size criteria and more. Click on "Advanced Search". Select desired field name and enter your criteria. Then hit "Add to Criteria" button. Continue adding all desired criteria, then click on "Run Search". Various output options. |
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International. Public and Private Companies. Can search by geography, size, industry codes, financial data and more. Select "Build A List" on the right and select desired criteria. |
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LexisNexis is international in scope and contains public and private company information, including contact information, recent stock activity, financials, executives, current news, and competitor lists. |
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Database of technlogy companies. Have an online business idea? You can search Crunchbase for similar companies |
Competitor Profiles/Reports & News:
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Business Source Premier contains full-text for more than 2,300 journals and company, country, industry, and market research reports. |
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Factiva contains more than 25,000 sources including The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and the Dow Jones and Reuters newswires. |
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This resource is only available using Internet Explorer. ThomsonONE provides a collection of company information, reports, and financial statements for more than 70,000 public and private businesses worldwide. |
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ADDITIONAL TOOLS:
Freelancers:
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2 million freelancers. Find web programmers, mobile app developers, graphic designers and other freelancers with the most-demanded skills. |
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An online marketplace for freelance talent. |
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Find contractors and freelancers. |
Current Events:
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Small business news and trends. |
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Business magazine that chronicles how changing companies create and compete. |
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Publication that focuses on growing companies. |
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Wall Street Journal Small Business Portal Read about the latest trends and issues facing small businesses. |
Polling and Survey Tools:
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Free, up to 40 participants. |
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Student accounts available. |
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Online survey tool |
Citing Sources:
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APA Citation Guide. Also, the Business/SPEA Citation Guide |
