Information Mining for Entrepreneurs
The Small Business Workshop Series kicked off last week with "Start Me Up: Information Mining for Entrepreneurs," presented by Kelly Miller, Business Librarian for the Springfield-Greene County Library District. This session focused on resources for business plans, business and company research, demographic information and market research. Here's a quick review of the resources presented in this session:
BUSINESS PLANS AND PROFILES
Business Plans Handbook: A Compilation of Actual Business Plans Developed By Small Businesses Throughout North America. A new volume of the Handbook comes out every year and features business plans that mirror current small business start-up trends. The most current volume includes actual business plans for buzz-worthy companies such as mobile app development, food cart, day spa and specialty bakery.
Small Business Sourcebook: The Entrepreneur's Resource. Want to quickly get up to speed in your industry? This resource provides a wealth of information on specific business profiles, with details on associations, educational programs, sources of supply, trade shows, franchise opportunities and more.
DEMOGRAPHICS DATABASE
Use BusinessDecision to find out the demographic characteristics of the consumers in an area that you specify. Find out what people are buying, reading, and watching in your chosen location to help make powerful decisions about your business.
CONSUMER AND COMPETITOR RESEARCH
With ReferenceUSA, you can create lists of businesses using targeted search characteristics such as business type by SIC/NAICS, geography and radius, business size, and sales volume. The records for individual businesses are incredibly detailed, with a management directory, industry profile, maps, and more. Lists of consumers can be created using selections like geographic location, median home value, and median home income. This easy-to-use database can be accessed online with your library card.
There's still time to sign up for the last two sessions in the series! To register, call 882-0714 or email Kelly Miller at kellym@thelibrary.org.
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