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Business Planning Research Guide

BASIC SOURCES for ALL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS PLANNING: Business Source Complete .
The index and full-text of trade and scholarly publications in business, economics, and related fields. Also includes market research reports, company research reports, and country research reports.
Suggested search terms: new business enterprises, business planning, entrepreneurship, business forecasting, business conditions, industrywide conditions, marketing research, new products, market potential, market entry, strategic planning.; LexisNexis Academic
The Business Section: Business News and Industry News contain articles from thousands of trade magazines and newspapers.; Academic Search Complete
Index to articles on all topics

STARTING A BUSINESS and BUSINESS PLANS: Business Plans Handbook: A Compilation of Actual Business Plans.... [Ref HD 62.7 B865]
Ten-volume set includes actual business plans for hundreds of different types of startups. Also includes a guide to the business plan.; How to Set Up Your Own Small Business. [Ref HD 62.7 F35 1999]
Two volume handbook covers all the basics of getting started, including how to write the business plan, ownership types, and strategic advice.; How to Write a Business Plan [Ref HD 30.28 M3839 1999]
Although this volume is like many of the online sites below that provide advice for the new business and business plan, it goes into quite a bit more detail about the makeup of the plan, with many examples.; Small Business Advisor [Ref HD 62.7 E568 1999]
From Entrepreneur Magazine, this volume covers all the basics, including finding new business ideas, market research, legal forms, the business plan, financing, and marketing.; Small Business Sourcebook [Ref HD 2346 U5 S65]
Two volume set with thousands of listings of resources for the small business. For each type of business, there is a listing of resources, such as trade associations, databases, market research, libraries, etc.; Standard and Poor’s Industry Surveys [Ref HC106.6 .S74]
The fastest way to come up to speed on the players and events impacting over fifty of the largest North American and global industries. Ideal for management consultants, strategic planners, money managers, public and academic librarians, students, and business faculty.; Business.gov
Detailed steps on launching and managing a business. Compilation of information for the small businessperson from US government sources. Covers all aspects of starting a business, including writing the business plan.; SCORE
SCORE is an SBA (US Small Business Administration) initiative that provides advice and mentoring for small businesses. There are SCORE chapters around the country.; Business Plan Center
Nice compilation of sample plans, guides, tools, advice, and Moot's Business plan competition winning plans.; Business Plan Guides
Detailed guides, by topic, on issues related to starting a business.; inc.com Starting a Business | EntreWorld: Resources for Entrepreneurs | Tanned Feet Entrepreneurs' Help Page | BizPlanIt Virtual Business Plan
Many good clearinghouses of business startup advice and information.; Franchise Opportunity Database
Search for franchises alphabetically, by category, or by minimum investment range.

LEGAL/GOVERNMENT REQUIREMENTS: Business.gov
See the Business Law section.; California Business Portal. Starting a Business
From the State of California.; Basic Facts about Trademarks
Basic Facts describes trademarks, and details registration procedures.; General Information Concerning Patents
This source provides a concise guide to patents: what they are, how to file for one, etc.; U.S. Patent & Trademark Office's Home Page site features information about patents and trademarks, as well as a searchable database of patents and pending patents (including detailed patent entries back to 1976, and patent images only back to 1790), and a searchable database of trademarks and pending trademarks.; Code of Federal Regulations
The CFR is the codification, by "Titles," of regulations currently in force. New regulations first appear in the Federal Register, but will appear in the CFR within a year.; Environmental Protection Agency Business and Industry
Offers information about compliance with environmental laws and regulations, aimed at the businessperson.; OSHA Handbook for Small Businesses
This guide is a convenient handbook that helps businesses comply with occupational safety and health standards and regulations. The OSHA Home Page actually provides full-text of the regulations themselves, as well as numerous other publications designed to help business with OSHA.

U.S. MARKET RESEARCH: RESEARCH YOUR INDUSTRY:: Encyclopedia of American Industries. [Ref HC 102 E53]
Two volume set includes several page profiles of industries by 4 digit SIC (hundreds of different industries); includes current industry snapshot and overview, major players, prospects, and more sources for information.; Consumer USA 2005. [Ref HC 101 C744 2005]
Statistics on over 320 consumer products, including forecasts up to 2008. Individual market data may include volume/sales and market share. Also includes various other marketing data about the US.; Associations Unlimited
Directory of organizations around the world. Suggested: choose "Subject/ Any Word Search", and put your industry or business type in the first box, free text, and change subject category to "Trade, Business and Commercial Organizations." Once you find potentially useful organizations, go to their web site and see what kind of research and publications they make available.; Economic Census and County Business Patterns and Zip Code Business Patterns
Find a NAICS Code for your type of business and enter it in the Industry Statistics Sampler (upper right) of the Economic Census. The code can also be used to get more local information about the industry at the County/Zip Code Patterns site.; LexisNexis Statistical
This often isn't easy to use, but the TablesBase edition contains thousands of statistical tables, and the Abstracts section indexes thousands more. Great for finding other places statistical data about anything might be published.; Information, Finance, and Services USA [Ref HD 9981.4 I53]
Presents reports, projections, historical data, leading companies, and national and state data from all information, finance and service industries as defined by the SIC and NAICS classification systems.; Manufacturing and Distribution USA [Ref HD9721 M3495]
Presents statistics on more than 500 SIC and NIACS classifications in the manufacturing, wholesaling and retail industries.; Business Source Complete .
Index and full-text of thousands of trade and scholarly publications in business, economics, and related fields. Also includes various market research reports, company research reports, and country research reports.; LexisNexis Academic
The Business Section: Business News and Industry News contain articles from thousands of trade magazines and newspapers.

U.S. MARKET RESEARCH: RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITION The resources above for researching your industry usually include names and information about significant businesses in the industry. Further:: LexisNexis Academic
Choose BUSINESS, then COMPANY PROFILES. Then search for businesses by name or SIC section.; Business Rankings Annual. [Ref HG 4050 B87]
Compiles rankings on hundreds of business categories, compiled from many different sources.; Market Share Reporter. [Ref HF 5410 .M35] and World Market Share Reporter. [Ref HD 2757.15 .W67]
Market shares of leading companies for thousands of products.; Northern California Business Directory [Ref HF 5065 C2 N672] and Southern California Business Directory [Ref HF 5065 C2 S568]
These regional directories list over 1 million California business by type and city.; Anywho, Superpages, Switchboard
These are three major sites with compilations of nationwide phone directories, with yellow pages and white pages.; See also: Company & Industry Guide - mostly info on large, public companies.

U.S. MARKET RESEARCH: RESEARCH YOUR CUSTOMERS. Note that sources under Research your Industry may have data on customers for a particular product or sector.: American Factfinder (US Census)
Demographics from U.S. Census. See the fact sheets.; Lifestyle Market Analyst [Ref HF5415.33 U6 L54]
For the biggest markets in the US (approx. 210), details on lifestyle and spending habits for a variety of merchandise and service categories.; Consumer Expenditure Survey
BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) produces this large, annual survey of what people spend their money on, for US as a whole.; Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics [Ref HA203 .S66 2000]
Summarizes demographics, with market potential indicators, by zip code.; American Marketplace: Demographics and Spending Patterns [Ref HA 214 A6 1999]
Summary statistics.; California Cities, Towns, and Counties [Ref HA 261 C295]
Summary demographic and economic data.; California Demographics; California Statistical Abstract [Ref HA 261 C295]; PsychInfo
Articles from psychology-related journals on consumer behavior. Suggested search terms: Use the descriptors Management Decision Making; Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Product Design; Strategies; Consumer Satisfaction.

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING, U.S: Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media [Ref Desk Z 6951 A97]
Five volume set lists media by city. Includes newspapers, television, and radio. Many media include advertising rates.; Standard Periodical Directory [Ref Z 6951 S73]
Guide to magazines includes details on circulation and market reached, and advertising rates.; Ulrich's Periodicals Directory
Database of magazines worldwide. Use to identify magazines that might reach a certain audience in a certain region or country.; ClickZStats
Data on web usage and the online advertising industry.; Green Book to Marketing Research Companies
Use the Green Book to identify market research companies specializing in different types of market research, or in different industries. Check the web sites of the companies for any free data.; Business Source Complete .
Suggested search terms: marketing (and specific types thereof), market entry, market penetration, market segmentation, market potential, market potential, market surveys, advertising (and specific types thereof), consumer behavior, consumers.; Advertising World
Compilation of links to advertising resources.; LexisNexis Academic
The Business Section: Business News and Industry and Market News contains articles from thousands of trade magazines and newspapers.; Selected, online, fee-based market research Services
Below is a sampling of companies who sell market intelligence via the web. You may often search for reports and sometimes view abstracts, but the actual reports are only available for a fee.
Mindbranch
Gartner Group
Forrester
ECNext
USADATA.com
Zapdata.com
Market Research.com

FINANCING and FNANCIALS. U.S.: SBA Financing Your Business
Federal sources of financial assistance (Small Business Administration).; California Business Portal
Choose 'Financial Assistance' or 'Business and Community Resources,' for sources of financial assistance from the State of California.; Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. [Ref HF 5681 R25 A45]
Compiles 'ratios' by industry (using NAICS Codes), which analyze various measures of firms' use of capital and profitability.; Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios. [Ref HF 5681 R25 I52]
Same as above, using SIC Codes.; BusinessFinance.com
Search for sources of capital, including loans and venture capital.

Starting a Business in a Foreign Country

FOREIGN COUNTRIES: OVERVIEW and LEGAL REQUIREMENTS: STAT-USA's Country Commercial Guides
These detailed reports for each country give overview of business law, regulations, climate, trends, etc. Go to the GLOBUS section, and find 'Country Commercial guides' under Country and Market Research.; Business Source Complete .
Includes country reports from Global Insight, Datamonitor, Countrywatch, and ICON, in addition to the thousands of articles from business and trade magazines.; Doing Business... .
Joint World Bank/Int'l Finance Corporation project measures difficulty of various business operations in the world's countries.; Department of Commerce Export Portal.
Compilation of information from Dept. of Commerce, includes how-tos, advice, market information, and Country Commercial Guides and the market research reports from STAT-USA.; Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Country Intelligence
EIU Profiles and Reports provide timely analysis and forecasts of the political, economic, social, and business environment in a total of 126 reports about more than 180 countries. They present the political and economic structure of the country, the current political scene, economic policy, domestic economy (covering industry, agriculture, money and finance), foreign trade and payments, and the outlook for the future. Country reports are archived online (web) from 1996 forward.; World Chambers of Commerce Network
Find web sites for chambers of commerce, who often provide information on doing business in a city or country. Many major cities and countries have American chambers of commerce set up to help Americans in that city/country.

FOREIGN MARKET RESEARCH: RESEARCH YOUR INDUSTRY:: STAT-USA's Market Research Repository (also at Export Portal)
Get selected international market research reports. Go to "Globus/NTDB", and at the top, search for keywords in the database labeled "Market Research Repository."; Associations Unlimited
Comprehensive directory of organizations around the world, leads to websites of trade organizations, which often offer valuable market research and industry news. Suggested: choose "Subject/ Any Word Search", and put your industry or business type in the first box, free text, and change subject category to "Business, Trade, and Commercial Organizations." Once you find potentially useful organizations, go to their web site and see what kind of research and publications they make available.; Euromonitor
Although the text of Euromonitor's reports is not free, they give you a few facts and an idea of the kind of data that exists. Click on Industries and Countries at top.

FOREIGN MARKET RESEARCH: RESEARCH YOUR COMPETITION The resources above for Research your industry usually include names and information about significant businesses in the industry.: LexisNexis Academic
Choose BUSINESS, then COMPANY PROFILES. Then change the 'Source' to International Company Reports and search for businesses by name or SIC section.; STAT-USA's Market Research Repository (also at Export Portal)
Get selected international market research reports. Go to "Globus/NTDB", and at the top, search for keywords in the database labeled "Market Research Repository."; Business Rankings Annual. [Ref HG 4050 B87]
Compiles rankings (usually a top ten or less) on hundreds of business categories, compiled from many different sources.; World Market Share Reporter.[Ref HD 2757.15 .W67]
Market shares of leading companies for thousands of products.; World Chambers of Commerce Network
Links to chambers of commerce around the world, which sometimes clue you in to competition.

FOREIGN MARKET RESEARCH: RESEARCH YOUR CUSTOMERS Note that sources under Research your Industry may have data on customers for a particular product or sector.: Consumer Latin America [Ref HC130.C6 C67]
Consumer Asia [Ref HC411.C66]
Consumer Europe [Ref HD7022 .C68]
These volumes present detailed data on more than 330 product and service categories by country.; STAT-USA's Best Market Reports (also at Export Portal)
Get selected international market research reports, often with details on customers in a particular country and industry. Go to "Globus/NTDB", and at the top, search for keywords in the database labeled "Market Research Repository."; World Consumer Lifestyles Databook [Ref HF 5415.3 W67]
Country-by-country details on buying habits and lifestyles of countries around the world.; World Consumer Spending [Ref HC79.C6 W67]; International Statistical Agencies
List of links to the statistical agencies of foreign nations; often the best or only source of demographics for smaller cities.; World Development Indicators [also, free data last five years]
Best, most comprehensive source for current and recent statistical data on the world's nations. It includes data on more than 500 topics (indicators) about the people, economy, environment, and public finance of 210 nations. The Online version contains time series from 1960 to the present, and data may be exported in a variety of formats (inc. Excel, dbase, and SAS), as well as mapped and charted.; European Marketing Data and Statistics. [Ref HA 1107 .E87]
Includes statistics on people, economy, consumers, media, markets, culture, advertising, and more.; International Marketing Data and Statistics. [Ref HA 42 .I57]
Includes statistics on people, economy, consumers, media, markets, culture, advertising, and more.; Demographic Yearbook [Ref HA 17 D4]
Summary demographic statistics for 229 nations; from U.N. Some similar data available via UN Infonation.; Also browse the country specific volumes in the HA section of Main Reference for data of specific cities in foreign countries.

MARKETING AND ADVERTISING, FOREIGN: Ulrich's Periodicals Directory
Database of magazines worldwide. Use to identify magazines that might reach a certain audience in a certain region or country.; ClickZStats
Data on web usage and the online advertising industry.; Standard Periodical Directory [Ref Z 6951 S73]
Guide to magazines includes details on circulation and market reached, and advertising rates.

FINANCING, FOREIGN See also the various general sources under Foreign Countries: overview/legal requirements: Business Source Complete .
Many country specific reports and data.; LexisNexis Academic
The Business Section: Business News and Industry and Market News contains articles from thousands of trade magazines and newspapers.