LibGuides: Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship: Industry Trends

Industry Research

To do industry level research you need to identify the common industry name and a system that you will see in many reports and databases is called the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).

Overview on NAICS (pronounced "nakes") with examples

In this system, establishments are grouped together if they do similar things in similar ways, and analysts in think tanks, information or data vendors and governments perform analysis and produce research based on those groupings.

When you are in the early stages of your research, the insights and trends in these reports can help you learn more about industry operations, what the outlook is, and what recent changes have taken place.

Official NAICS Website

Public reports

Trade associations, government agencies, and the private sector sometimes provide parts of their research to the public for free.

To find more official publications, add filetype:PDF to your search

Browse NAICS and choose an industry, or look up a competitor and see how they are classified
Search part of the name, plus filetype:PDF (example: Independent Artists Industry filetype:PDF)

Library Databases for Industry Research

Note: these are not limited to North America. 
Databases contain reports on industries and companies around the world.

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
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Begin your search with "MarketLine Industry Profile". Browse recently available reports, then use the advanced search form and filters to narrow to the appropriate Industry.
1886-present; Business Source Complete is a database for full text journals in all disciplines of business, including marketing, management, MIS, POM, accounting, finance and economics. Additional full text, non-journal content includes financial data, books, monographs, major reference works, book digests, conference proceedings, case studies, investment research reports, industry reports, market research reports, country reports, company profiles, SWOT analyses and more.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
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Reports available for 700+ Industries, organized by NAICS but also contains emerging or specialized industries.
Current; IBISWorld provides access to two collections of research reports for business and marketing information. Industry Market Research Reports (typically 30-40 page reports) are available for 700 US industries; reports include key statistics, market segmentation, market characteristics, industry conditions, key factors, key competitors, industry performance, and industry outlook. US Specialized Industry Reports are market research reports for small or new industries. New reports are added every week.

Business Monitor International (BMI) Reports via Proquest
Country-focused industry reports and regional insights with SWOT analysis, market trends, forecasts, & competitive data.
First Research via Proquest
First Research provides industry news and profiles.
RKMA Handbooks
This series compiles statistics, trands and data on a variety of consumer industries, including consumers and companies. They can be very long, so review the Table of Contents and 'find within' to find a keyword within the report

CB Insights This link opens in a new window
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CB Insights is a venture capital and angel investment database that provides daily real-time information about venture capital and angel investor-backed startup companies, venture capital companies, angel investors and transactions in the United States; current.
Pitchbook This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to private equity and venture capital investment history with in-depth information, data, and statistics on companies, deals, funds, service providers, and investors, current.

First time users must register for an account. Follow the instructions here: https://libguides.brown.edu/pitchbook
Current; private equity and venture capital database with in-depth information, data and statistics on companies, deals, funds, service providers and investors.
Statista This link opens in a new window
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Provides statistics, data, market research, and industry reports on a variety of topics.
Current; Statista is a provider of market and consumer data. Statista.com consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources. To provide feedback on this trial, please contact the Social Sciences Librarians.
For off-campus access, please use the VPN.