BUS 455 Entrepreneurial Management: Home

Public libraries have many resources to support small business owners and budding entrepreneurs.

RMA Annual Statement Studies (print and electronic format options) provides financial ratio benchmark figures for a wide variety of industries and helps you understand the financial needs of a business in a particular industry.

Check with your local library to see if they subscribe to these electronic products: 

• AtoZ Databases: Creates lists of businesses meeting the criteria you select.  Includes residential information too. 
• Small Business Reference Center: offers reference books related to small business, business videos, a help and advice section and the basics on creating a business plan. 
• ReferenceUSA: Creates lists of businesses that meet your criteria. Provides credit ratings and limited financial information on companies. If the library also subscribes to the Consumer option, you will be able to create lists of consumers in a given area.

Need to know how many similar businesses are in your geographical area?  Trying to determine the challenges similar businesses face?  You've come to the right place. This guide is designed to help students in BUS 455 Entrepreneurial Management find the information they need to complete a business plan. Use the tabs along the top of the guide to move to sections on locating:  

• Articles about other companies and the industry as a whole,
• Reports, including company reports, industry overviews and market research reports, and lists of companies by location, 
• eBooks on business planning and starting a business,
• Websites related to business planning,
• Citing assistance.

Knowing the NAICS and SIC codes for the industry you are researching can simplify the research process. 

NAICS and SIC codes are numbers used to classify businesses engaging in similar work. NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) codes were first issued in 1997.  SIC (Standard Industrial Classification Codes preceded NAICS and are still used by some databases and government bodies like the Securities and Exchange Commission. Be sure to read definitions accompanying each code to insure you have the appropriate code.  If you have trouble determining the appropriate code, use other resources like Nexis Uni to learn the codes for a business in the same line of work. Then double-check the definition for that code to verify that it is the appropriate code. 

Source: North American Industry Classification System. United States Census Bureau.