BUS 321 - Entrepreneurship

The purpose of this guide is to help you locate current sources for researching a particular market.  Market share, business plans, sales growth and demographics are all important pieces of information necessary for building a powerful marketing plan.  This guide is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of sources related to market research, but it will give you a good start.

LIBRARY HOMEPAGE    http://library.uwsp.edu

PATH TO DATABASES:

• Go to library homepage

• Click on “Article Databases by Subject” under  “Research Point” tab

• Go to the “Business/Economics” link

MARKET, INDUSTRY & COMPANY RESEARCH

• Library Catalog Subject Headings or Keywords:  Marketing “Marketing Research”  “Market Segmentation”  “Target Marketing”  “Consumer Behavior”  Entrepreneurship  Industries  Industry (limit to Reference Room)

• Reference Books

Demographics USA      Ref HA203 .D465

Contains demographic information – consumer expenditures, employment by occupations, retail sales by state, etc.

Market Share Reporter      Ref HF5410 .M35

Annual compilation of market share data on U.S. companies, products and services, arranged by SIC code and with indexes by product, company and topic.

Editor & Publisher Market Guide     Ref HF5429.3 .E43

This annual includes demographic data and projections and market rankings by state.

Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys   Ref HG 4057 .A388

Excellent guides to specific industry trends, key ratios and statistics, and how to analyze a company.

Business and Industry (11 vol.)   Ref HF1001 .B796 2004

This 11-vol set includes theme-based articles on business and industry related topics. Volume 11 includes an index to each volume in the set.  

SIC Industry Classification Manual Ref HF1042 .S73 1987 & NAICS  HF1042 .N67 2002

Classification scheme for industries (finding aid). Good tool to use for market, industry and competitor information and

•   Databases (articles, newspapers, business trade journals, industry & company information)

ABI/Inform Global (Proquest). Index to 1000 worldwide business periodicals for information on advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Also, information on 60,000+ companies [UWSP access only]

Business Source Elite (Ebsco). Provides full text for nearly 1,060 journals covering business, management, economics, finance, banking, accounting, and much more. [UWSP access only]

Wilson Business: Indexes articles, product evaluations, and book reviews in over 390 leading English-language periodicals published in the U.S. and elsewhere. The database includes trade and industrial publications, journals of professional and learned societies, and specialized subject periodicals.  [UWSP access only]

Corporate ResourceNet (Ebsco). Provides over 4,000 searchable sources covering a broad spectrum of U.S. and international business topics and industries; scientific and medical information; regulation and policy information; and company and product information. Includes DataMonitor Reports (SWOT Analysis). [UWSP access only]

Hoover’s. Good for company information. Hoover’s offers information on over 44,000 companies, industries, people, products and competitor information.  [UWSP access only]

Academic Universe (Lexis Nexis). Good for company information. This database Provides access to a wide range of news, business, legal, and industry information. [UWSP access only]

• Web Sites

Marketing Research Association   http://www.mra-net.org
While much of the information on this site is for members of the MRA, there are useful links here, such as the Glossary of Terms and links to related resources you may find useful.

Market Research/Consumer Behavior (U Penn Library) http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/business/consumerbehav.html
Includes links to useful industry web sites and government data

Industries Web Sites (U Penn Library)http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/business/industriesweb.html

BUSINESS PLANS

• Library Catalog Subject Headings or Keywords:
  “Business Planning”   “Business Plan?”   Entrepreneurship
  
  
• Reference Books
  Business Plans Handbook       REF HD62.7 .B865
  This 10-vol set contains model business and marketing plans for a variety of businesses.
  
  Small Business Sourcebook: The Entrepreneur’s Resource    Ref HD2346.U5 S66
  A two-volume annotated guide to sources of information designed to facilitate the start-up,development and growth of small businesses.
  
  
• Web Sites
  Business Plans  http://www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm
  Includes samples of selected business plans.
  
  Business Plan Resources (U of Wash Library)
  http://www.lib.washington.edu/business/guides/bplans.html
  
  Entrepreneurship & Small Business Sites (U Penn Library)
  http://gethelp.library.upenn.edu/guides/business/entreprenweb.html
  
  Small Business Administration  http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/marketing/basics.html
  Provides some basic information on marketing.

LOCAL SOURCES

• Library Catalog Subject Headings or Keywords:
  Wisconsin   (or specific city or county as keyword)
  
  Reference Books
  Wisconsin Business Directory       Ref HG4058 .W52
  Listing of businesses by city and category.
  
  Stevens Point City Directory – Reference Desk
  
  Wisconsin Newspapers
• Click on “Article Databases by Subject” under “Research Point” tab
  Go to the “Wisconsin/Local” link
  
  Web Sites
  Wisc. Dept. of Commerce   http://www.commerce.state.wi.us/BD
  Provides business statistics and data for WI, including the state’s business climate, county personal income, economic indicator’s index, etc.
  
  Wisconsin’s WORKnet  http://worknet.wisconsin.gov/worknet/
  Excellent source for Wisconsin’s workforce and labor market information. Check out the datatables and Portage County Summary.

Updated Fall 2008 - nn