Entrepreneurship, Business Consulting - Marvin A. Pomerantz Business Library

6T:192/292 Entrepreneurship: Business Consulting

Business Plans

Business Plan Basics
Free online resource
http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/basic.html
— Information compiled by the Small Business Administration. Sample business plans are provided.

BPlans.com
Free online resource
http://www.bplans.com
— Includes a searchable database of 60 free, sample business plans, articles with expert advice, links to additional planning tools, and links to service providers.

Business Plan Archive
Free online resource
http://www.businessplanarchive.org
— Includes a searchable database of business plans and other materials of now defunct dot.com businesses. Free registration is required.

Industry Overviews and Analysis

Economic Census (2002)
Free online resource
http://www.census.gov/econ/census02/
— The Economic Census provides a detailed portrait of the nation's economy once every five years, from the national to the local level. Includes key industrial statistics such as the number of establishments, number of employees, payroll, and measure of output.

Encyclopedia of American Industries
Book: Reference, fHC 102 .E53 1998
— Articles on over 1,000 industries, some of which detail the organization and structure of an industry, as well as major technological advances within a particular industry. Arranged numerically by SIC code. Volume 1: Manufacturing Industries; Volume 2: Service & Non-Manufacturing Industries.

Investext Plus
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itweb/uiowa_main?db=RBW
— Investment, company, and industry reports from over 500 brokers in North America, Europe, Asia/Pacific, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. All company and industry reports are provided in full-page PDF format.

Mergent Online
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://www.mergentonline.com/compsearch.asp
— Includes industry reports with information on current environment, industry profile, key points, key references, market trends, and forecasts.

GLOBUS & NTDB (National Trade Data Bank)
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS1777
— Part of the Stat-USA website. Provides access to international market research, information on trade opportunities, and country analysis. Includes a trade library. Select the link for "Industry Sector Analysis Reports" for detailed reports on industries in different countries.

NetAdvantage (Standard & Poor's)
Pappajohn Business Building access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/sandp/netadvant
— Under Quick Links, Industry Survey, select from major industries such as advertising, electric utitlities, etc. Each survey includes a discussion of the current environment, an overall profile of the industry, as well as a glossary of terms and a list of references to additional resources. Many charts and tables are included.

Value Line Investment Surveys
Book: Information Desk, HG 4501 .V26
— Includes industry overviews for 90 different industry groups.

Trade Associations and Trade Shows

Associations Unlimited
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/gale/au
— Contains descriptions of approximately 120,000 international and U.S. national, regional, state, and local membership organizations in all fields.

Directory of Business Information Resources
Book: Reference, HD 2425 .D46
— Lists trade associations, newsletters, magazines and journals, trade shows, directories, databases and websites by industry. Also provides a listing of special issues of magazines.

TradePub.com
Free online resource
http://www.tradepub.com
— Lists a large number of trade publications by industry and provides free copies to qualified individuals.

TSNN.com
Free online resource
http://www.tsnn.com/
— Online resource for the trade show and exhibition industry. Includes a searchable database of over 15,000 trade shows and conferences as well as 30,000+ seminars.

Market Research

IBISWorld
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://www.ibisworld.com/
---This online database offers access to over 700 US industry market research reports. The report topics range from car washes to management consultants. IBISWorld also incudes US public company profiles. All of the reports can be downloaded in pdf or MS Word format.

Please note: Our IBISWorld subscription only includes access to the US industry market research reports and the US company profiles.

MarketResearch.com Academic
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://academic.marketresearch.com
— Visitors to this site have access to extensive, detailed, market-research reports ranging from 200 to 400 pages in length, with charts, tables, and graphs. These reports include information on a range of consumer products, as well as consumer profiles and demographics.

Mintel Reports
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://academic.mintel.com
— Mintel presents over 600 published market research reports on European, U.K.-specific, and U.S. consumer markets.

Snapshots: the Market Research Toolbox
University of Iowa access only
http://proxy.lib.uiowa.edu/login?url=http://www.snapdata.com
— Market research reports for the United States, Canada, China, and Mexico are available on this site. In the upper box, under "University of Iowa", click on "My Reports" in order to access the service.

Demographics

U.S. Census Bureau
Free online resource
http://www.census.gov
— Use American FactFinder for population, housing, economic, and geographic data and the Quick Facts database for statistical profiles of states, counties, and select cities. An excellent reference resource is also the Statistical Abstract of the United States (also available in print behind Business Library's Information Desk)

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

State Data Center of Iowa
Free online resource
http://www.silo.lib.ia.us/specialized-services/datacenter/
— "The State Data Center of Iowa is your source for population, housing, business, and government statistics about Iowa, including data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Iowa state agencies, and other state and federal sources."

Iowa City Community Profile
Free online resource
http://www.icgov.org/default/?id=1369
— Demographic profile of Iowa City and the surrounding area.

Demographic Information for the Greater Cedar Rapids Area
Free online resource
http://www.priority1.com/Documents/Demo2006.pdf
— A project of the Economic Development Division of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce.

Small Business Resources

BPlans.com
Free online resource
http://www.bplans.com
— Published by Palo Alto Software, Inc., this website contains free sample business plans, articles advice on business planning, software for purchase.

Financial Studies of the Small Business
Book: Reference, HD 2346 .U5 F55
— Arranged by asset size and establishment type; financial and operating ratios are provided for about 50 lines of small business and manufacturing.

Small Business Profiles: A Guide to Today's Top Opportunities for Entrepreneurs (2 Volumes)
Book: Reference, fHD 62.7 .S6242
— Presents start-up information, cost and profit figures, marketing and advertising information, and more on a range of small-business opportunities. The types of businesses included in these volumes range from tattoo studios to t-shirt shops to pet sitting services.

Small Business Sourcebook (2 Volumes)
Book: Reference, HD 2346 .U5 S65 20th ed. 2005
— Volume I lists research resources, such as trade associations, reference works, trade periodicals, and trade shows, related to over 300 different types of small businesses. Volume II contains chapters on different topics related to the operation of a small business, such as marketing and accounting.

Startup Basics
Free online resource
http://www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/basics.html
— Website developed by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Contains information on start up basics, business planning, financing, marketing, employees, taxes, and legal issues.

News and Articles

ABI/INFORM Global
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/proquest/abi
— Search 1000 premier worldwide business periodicals for information on advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Also, information is available on 60,000+ companies.

Business Source Complete
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/ebsco/bsc
— Includes full text articles from over 3,000 journals in the fields of business, management, economics, finance, banking, accounting - including all issues of the Harvard Business Review. This database is on the list of EBSCOhost databases.

Factiva
University of Iowa access only
http://purl.lib.uiowa.edu/factiva
— Try Factiva for business news from nearly 8,000 sources from 118 countries in 22 languages. Same-day, full-text articles and indexing of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Globe and Mail, Financial Times, Handelsblatt, Les Echos, South China Morning Post, Australian Financial Review, Sydney Morning Herald, Straits Times, Yomiuri Shimbun, and local newspapers from around the globe. Newswires include Dow Jones, Reuters, The Associated Press, Asia Pulse, and more than 120 other industry, press release, and local newswires. More than 800 sources are available on or before the date of publication.

Notes

— Other magazines/journals have special issues devoted to industry coverage. See
Directory of Business Periodical Special Issues (Book: Reference, Z7164 .C81D56 1995) or
Guide to Special Issues and Indexes of Periodicals (Book: Reference, Z6951 .S755 1994).

— Additionally, every April, Fortune Magazine has an analysis of the Fortune 500 companies. This analysis includes industry data. Many of the Fortune 500 lists are also available at: Fortune 500
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/

Consulting Career Resources

Consultants and Consulting Organizations Directory
Book: Reference, HD 69 .C6 C647

Consulting Magazine
Business Library periodicals
— A trade publication for those working and interested in the consulting field. The companion website (http://www.consultingmag.com/) has additional content not found in the print version.

Vault Career Guide to Consulting
Book: Information Desk, MBA Placement Office collection
— A guide "...to landing a consulting position and succeeding in a consulting career."

Vault Guide to the Top 50 Consulting Firms
Book: Information Desk, MBA Placement Office collection
— "The inside scoop on top management and strategy consulting employers."

Vault Guide to the Top 25 IT Consulting Firms
Book: Information Desk, MBA Placement Office collection
— "The inside scoop on the leading IT consulting employers."

Additional Research Resources

Cole Library's Industry Data Finder
http://www.rh.edu/library/industry/industry.htm

U. S. Patent and Trademark Office
http://www.uspto.gov

Citing Sources (Duke University Libraries) — Citation Examples (APA, MLA, Turabian, etc.)
http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/cite/works_cited.htm

Last update: September, 2007.

Send mail concerning this publication to: bus-lib@uiowa.edu.