This guide will assist in conducting research around different aspects (i.e., industry, competitors, concept, consumers, and operations) of a business plan. The resources listed in the "Getting Started" box provide examples of business plans, a high-level overview of the planning process, and advice on how-to develop each aspect of your plan. If you have questions about the resources or strategies in this guide or need further assistance, contact the Business/SPEA Information Commons, schedule a research consultation, or use the "Get Help" widget in this guide.
Full text consumer small business reference books, as well as tools and instructions to address a range of small business topics. Also includes business videos, a help and advice section, and information on how to create business plans.
Identifying the NAICS or SIC industry classification code can assist in accessing industry and company information.
Includes additional access to the following modules: US Industry Spotlights collection, Global Industry Reports United States: Industry Reports (NAICS) Industry State Reports (FL, MA, IL, NY, OH, CA, TX) Industry iExpert Summaries Specialized Industry Reports Specialized Industry iExpert Summaries Business Environment Profiles.
Comprised of ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. Notable periodicals include The Economist, Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal.
Access to U.S. Company Data and International Company Data. Allows users to access reports on companies based around the world, searching by company name or ticker symbol, or searching across all global boundaries to find companies that match specific financial and/or textual search criteria. Also includes detailed information, such as history, property, subsidiaries, officers and directors, long-term debt, and capital stock. Financial statements are presented in "as-reported" form and in native currencies.
MarketLine offers a collection of company, industry, financial, product and country information, research and data extending over all major marketplaces and industries. A searchable online business information service using published desk research and secondary data sources to create three different types of profiles. Company profiles include company overviews, business descriptions, company history, executive listings, product listings, locations, news, and commentary. Industry profiles contain: 5-year historical and 5-year forecast market values and/or volumes; market segmentations; company and/or product market shares; explanatory text identifying major trends and significant growth points; and analysis of each market's competitive landscape, including main players, distribution channels, and regulatory issues. Each country profile includes a description of the country's economic performance and GDP, an assessment of its potential for development, and detailed market and industry analysis of the country's business environment. Profiles are supplemented by a "news & comment" section.
Comprised of ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. Notable periodicals include The Economist, Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal.
Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market. Reports may be downloaded as RTF (rich-text format) files; tabular data may also be saved as CSV (comma-separated values) files.
Comprised of ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. Notable periodicals include The Economist, Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal.
Provides access to peer-reviewed business journals, covering all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more. Indexing and abstracts and full text are available back as far as 1886.
Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market. Reports may be downloaded as RTF (rich-text format) files; tabular data may also be saved as CSV (comma-separated values) files.
Frost & Sullivan provides research and analysis in new market opportunities for corporate growth. Frost & Sullivan covers the following markets and sectors:
Aerospace & Defense
Automotive & Transportation
Chemicals, Materials & Food
Chemicals & Materials
Food & Beverages
Energy & Power Systems Energy & Power
Power Supplies & Batteries
Environmental & Building Technologies
Building Management Technologies
Environmental
Healthcare
Clinical Diagnostics
Drug Discovery Technologies
Healthcare & Life Sciences IT
Medical Devices
Medical Imaging
Patient Monitoring
Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology
Industrial Automation & Electronics
Automatic Identification & Security
Electronic Devices
Industrial Automation & Process Control
Power Transmission
Semiconductors
Sensors & Instrumentation
Surface Mount Technologies
Test & Measurement
Information & Communication Technologies
Communications Services
Conferencing & Collaboration
Contact Centers
Digital Media
Enterprise Communications
IP Communications
IT Services & Applications
Mobile & Wireless Communications
Network Security
Next Generation Carrier Infrastructure
Smart Cards
Space & Communications
Simmons Insights (formerly Simmons OneView, and prior to that Simmons Choices3) provides data on adult U.S. consumers based on national surveys. The data includes consumer demographics (age, gender, income ...), consumer psychographics (behavior, attitudes ...) and buying and media habits. The database can be used to create individualized reports for marketing strategies, advertising choices, and other business decisions.
Allows users to:
-Access thousands of demographic, business, and marketing data variables.
-Develop interactive thematic maps and export high-resolution images to word processing or presentation software.
-Select, sort, and compare data across multiple locations and build custom reports that can be exported to a spreadsheet for additional functionality.
-Explore historical census data to understand how regions change over time and use estimates and projections to analyze current and future trends.
-Make informed personal and business-related decisions by asking questions like “what are the social and demographic characteristics of my neighborhood?” and “where should I locate my retail store?”
Finances:
Marketing:
Mintel Reports offers product and industry market research reports covering US and International marketplaces. Each report combines data and analysis of the competitive landscape, supply chain, market-share size and trends, and consumer profiles. Complex demographic issues are broken into easy-to-understand sections, explaining consumer behavior and demonstrating the structure of the market. Reports may be downloaded as RTF (rich-text format) files; tabular data may also be saved as CSV (comma-separated values) files.
Simmons Insights (formerly Simmons OneView, and prior to that Simmons Choices3) provides data on adult U.S. consumers based on national surveys. The data includes consumer demographics (age, gender, income ...), consumer psychographics (behavior, attitudes ...) and buying and media habits. The database can be used to create individualized reports for marketing strategies, advertising choices, and other business decisions.
Monitors 9,000 worldwide agency parent companies, over 4,400 U.S. publicly traded companies, the top 2,000 global companies and the largest U.S. private companies. Includes access to 10,000+ U.S. and international agency profiles and 15,000+ global advertiser profiles, as well as 255,000 personnel, with detailed contact information. Also includes information on more than 100,000 brand names.
Comprised of ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. Notable periodicals include The Economist, Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal.
Management:
Comprised of ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry, and ABI/INFORM Dateline. Notable periodicals include The Economist, Sloan Management Review, and the Wall Street Journal.
Provides access to peer-reviewed business journals, covering all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more. Indexing and abstracts and full text are available back as far as 1886.
When producing written and oral outcomes, cite the following:
The Business/SPEA Citation Guide provides examples of how to cite information from business databases in both APA and MLA citation style.