The type of information you might be looking for will be different depending on where you are in the entrepreneurial process and if you are doing academic research or creating a new venture. However, when it comes to the types of information sources practitioners and researchers use, there is less difference than you might think.
Use these prompts to get started:
Example: Small Business Association (SBA), Department of Education, Rhode Island Council of the Arts
Type: reports on industries, public data, statistics and demographics, legal and regulatory information
Use for: ideation, market/industry/legal/scholarly research, pitch deck development (public data)
Locate: via agency websites, try adding site:.gov to Google searches
Example: Brown University, Pew Research Center, National Bureau of Economic Research
Type: public and commissioned (not public) reports known as white papers, videos, public polling
Use for: emerging trends, scholary and market research
Locate: via public repositories, Library Subscription Databases, try agging site:.org and .edu to Google searches
Example: National Association of Manufacturers, American Hotel & Lodging Association
Type: directories, product lists, magazines, reports, fact sheets/data on industries or consumers
Use for: supply chain research, emerging trends, industry/market/competitor/consumer research
Locate: via association websites, conference proceedings, news
Example: Companies (Apple, Alphabet, Samsung), Services (Nielsen-Norman Group)
Type: newsletters, reports, financial information, surveys
Use for: industry/market/competitor/consumer research
Locate: SEC Filings, news, Library Subscription Databases
Example: BruKnow, WorldCat
Type: research guides, handbooks, example business plans, SWOT analysis
Use for: locating books, selecting databases, browsing articles, finding market research reports, handbooks, directories
Locate: library.brown.edu
Example: IBIS World, Pitchbook, Business Source Complete, Proquest Business Collection, Nexis Uni
Type: articles, scholarly publications, data, Company, country, industry and market reports, business directories, public polls
Use for: every stage of the entrepreneurial or research process
Locate: A to Z Database List -- Filter by subject to 'Business & Entrepreneurship", Schedule a Research Consultation with the Library
Layers of Information adapted from Where do I Find Business Information (Grace Liu) CC BY-SA 3.0 US
Icons from the Noun Project: database by ProSymbols licensed under CC BY 3.0 represents database; private sector by Wichai Wi licensed under CC BY 3.0 represents database; exchange by Made licensed under CC BY 3.0 represents trade associations; NGO Office by OCHA Visual licensed under CC BY 3.0 represents NGOs; Government by Vicons Design licensed under CC BY 3.0 represents government; and Library by Maria Kislitsina, IL licensed under CC BY 3.0 represents library catalogs.
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