This Guide
will show you ways to research customers, competition, and the business environment to support business startups or expansions. 
(If you are off campus, many of these databases need you to log in first through the VPN - see tab at the top.)
ENVIRONMENT - News sources
ENVIRONMENT - research an industry
VENTURE CAPITAL
- VentureXpert/Private Equity databaseventure capital funds, private equity firms, funded companies, and their executives in the US, Europe, and Asia. NOTE: click on "Screening & Analysis" on the left (VC firms are included.) Must use Internet Explorer browser.
- MoneyTree Report from PriceWaterhouseCoopersVC firms by industry
- TheFunded.comonline community of entrepreneurs that research, rate, and review funding sources - membership free to CEO's, some information free to all.
Demographics and characteristics of consumer markets
- EASI Market Planner in ProQuest Statistical Datasetsopen up the EASI Market Planner folder at the left for hundreds of datasets on consumer demographics and usage/spending patterns for products and services within all states, counties, census tracts and block groups in the U.S. Under "Industries" you'll be able to map companies as well. The data can be mapped, graphed and analyzed using the interactive tools.
- Passport GMIDfor consumer products only: market sizes, industry sectors, consumer lifestyles, companies and brands in over 200 countries – current, historical, and forecasted. Both raw data and written reports. Start with "Countries & Consumers" at the top.
- ProQuest Statistical Insight(for .pdfs) - and its companion ProQuest Statistical Datasets (for straight data, graphing and mapping) - provide the data from thousands of statistical publications and organizations for datasets on demographics, health, income, expenditures, prices, retail trade, etc.
- SRDS Local Market Audience Analyst(need to use Internet Explorer browser) - understand target markets, their behaviors and lifestyles. Correlates geographic, demographic, and psychographic data with purchasing behavior.
- American Factfindervoluminous demographic data on the U.S. from national to zip code level. For most current data, use the American Community Survey segment.
- Statistical Abstract of the United Stateseasy-to-find statistics on everything.
- Population Studies from the Census Bureauincluding international statistics and topic breakdowns.
- Another idea: media kits for magazinesgive a demographic profile for their specific clientele, i.e. Game Informer Magazine for video gamers, Car & Driver for auto enthusiasts (just Google a magazine title and "media kit")
CUSTOMERS - Consumer spending and attitudes
New Strategist publications
MORE
Great books in our collection - find them using CAMEO - enter "new business enterprises" or "entrepreneurship" in the "Subject" box - examples:
- What every engineer should know about starting a high-tech business venture
- Technology ventures: from idea to enterprise
- Campus CEO: the student entrepreneur's guide to launching a multi-million dollar business
Journals in our databases, such as Healthcare
Mergers, Acquisitions & Ventures Week, Minority
Business Entrepreneur, Java
Entrepreneur - look for them in our EJournal A-Z
list. Also, free ones, such as Entrepreneur, Inc., Wired.
Business plans - links to sample
plans, more sample plans and guides, and other
resources; plus a tutorial
in how to prepare financial projections
Stanford's Entrepreneurship Corner - videos and podcasts of thousands of experts on all startup topics, developed by the Stanford Technology Ventures Program
Business valuation widget (devised by Tepper alum Kipp Krukowski)
US government and PA government business startup sites outlining legal requirements, government services, financing and contract opportunities, etc
Your Business Librarian |
 Roye Werner Links: Profile & Guides Subjects: Business & Economics |
COMPETITION - identifying competitors
Identifying NAICS and SIC codes -
knowing the classification number for your industry will help in your
database searches
Dun & Bradstreet's Million Dollar
Database - 23 million companies worldwide; create lists by
criteria
Hoover’s
Online – find a company like yours, then see “competitors” on
left hand side
Manufacturing: Thomas Register of American
Manufacturers
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