Campus Library Bus471 Entrepreneurial Managegment Michael Gold

Questions To Consider

Strategies To Consider

Competitors

1. Who are they?
2. How big are they?
3. Where are they?
4. Do they specialize in this product/service or is it a sideline for them?
5. What are your competitors strengths/weaknesses?
6. What are their market strategies? Who are their customers?
7. What are the predictions for these companies? What do analyst and news reports say?
8. Will your business be better than theirs? How?

To identify competitors & find information about them:

Link to Company Information

See especially Research Private and Small Companies

Analyst reports on companies & industries

Journal and Newspaper articles
- Business Databases
- Business Source Complete
- Lexis-Nexis

Newswires

Statistical Databases such as TableBase and Infotech Trends

Growth

1. What growth is anticipated in this industry?
2. What are the industry sales for the last 3-5 years?
3. How many firms have entered this industry in the past 3-5 years?
4. Have any new products/services been developed in this industry lately?
5. Are your competitors' sales growing, declining or steady?

To Determine Growth, try searching:

Analyst reports on companies & industries

Financial Information, 3-5 years

Journal and Newspaper articles

- Business Source Complete
- Lexis-Nexis
- More Business Databases

Customers

1. Who are they? What do you know about them?
2. Will your customer profile differ from your competitors' customer profile?

To determine a customer base:

Some Research Guidelines
- Researching Target Markets

To study your customers and environment:
1. Link to Marketing Information
2. Link to Consumer Data
3. Link to Statistical Information
4. Link to Industry Information
5. Link to Pacific Northwest Business Information

U.S. Census Bureau for U.S. and world population and socio-economic data

- Also includes American Fact Finder (limit geographically by city, county, zip code)
- Also includes American Community Survey (limit geographically by city, county, zip code)

Access Washington (Select Learn About State Facts. Then select either Population or Economy.

Link to Entrepreneurship for more web sites where data can be mined such as from
Starting and Running a Business

Market Development

1. How will your product be affected by government regulations?
2. Will your product/service become obsolete or be affected by new developments?
3. What other developments or events could affect your business?
4. How big is the market?
5. What might your market share be?

Some Research Guidelines

Marketing Information

1. Market Share
2. SWOT Analysis
3. Situational Analysis
4. Size/Diversity
5. Analyst reports
6.Journal & Newspaper Articles
7. Regulations
8. Segmentation

More Information

1. What more can you determine?
2. Start-up costs?
3. Suppliers?
4. Equipment? Space needed? Employment?
5. Service or manufacturing process?
6. What are the going wages in the industry?
7. Can you project financials?
8. Will you be a public or private company, a subsidiary or a joint venture? What are your competitors?

Business Research Guides

Starting & Running a Business & Creating a Business Plan: