Almost all the entrepreneurs around the world have a lot of questions, doubts in mind with regard to their business and most of the time, many of them, have a difficulty in knowing where to look and find the needed information which can be critical to the success or decline of your business.
Hence, with the understanding of the difficulty in finding the right places for information, this article approaches and provides the various avenues from which an entrepreneur can get information from.
Your local library (and librarian obviously) can be a tremendous asset to you in your search. Most good-sized libraries have online catalogs that can make your quest easier. However, it’s important that you understand that before you schlep to the library, it’s better if you look for an online source since it saves time. On the other hand, if you're a novice at researching, a helpful librarian can save you lots of time and when it comes to business, time of course, is money.
In your search, be sure to check your library’s reference section for the following:
- The Small Business Sourcebook contains thousands of sources, including books, magazine articles, stats and industry data. Articles, trade shows and conventions are sorted by industry.
The Encyclopedia of Associations lists thousands of trade associations, offering contact information and vital stats. This is crucial to all entrepreneurs seeking information about a particular industry.
- The D&B Million Dollar Database offers access to online information on more than 1.6 million private and public U.S. and Canadian companies, their sales, their number of employees and other important information. This is helpful when checking out potential partners, seeking clients or customers, or "spying" on your competition. Visit the site for subscription information.
Hoovers offers a similar service with some free sample information.
- Demographic information (crucial to learning about your target market) can be found in Editor and Publisher Market Guide and The Sourcebook ZIP Code Demographics.
For advertising costs in any of the nation's magazines and newspapers, check out the reference books from Standard Rate and Data Service.
- If you're looking for information on government contracting opportunities, visit FedBizOpps (formerly Commerce Business Daily).
The Encyclopedia of Business Information Sources has thousands of citations on more than 1,000 topics, listing directories, encyclopedias, yearbooks and trade groups.
- Other important reference books include Bacon's Newspaper/Magazine Directory, Bacon's Radio/TV/Cable Directory, Bacon's Internet Media Directory and the Business Periodicals Index.
Last but not least, one of the greatest resources (and the most useful) is the Thomas Register of American Manufacturers. It lists thousands of manufacturers of virtually every product produced in the United States.
- The SBA (Small Business Association) is also an amazing resource and provides a huge amount of information for entrepreneurs.
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