Business Resources Overview: Where can I find...

A nice overview of a product/service/industry?

If you are unfamiliar with NAICS and SIC codes take a look at these sites. They are classification numbers the US government uses to group like industries it has categorized. Not every industry is represented and not every information product uses these groupings.

The SIC system pre-dates NAICS and therefore does not account for industries which emerged after SIC was established. Some databases like Data Axle and Hoovers try to accommodate for this by adding extra digits beyond the 4 digit SIC code. These are not the same as NAICS.

The demographics of people in the United States in general?

Demographics of people in the United States who might buy a specific product/service?

Competitors for a specific company?

Companies within an industry?

Market share?

The latest news about a company, industry, product or service?

Basic news about the United States economy?

Financials, profit/loss, income statements and balance sheets for companies?

Ratios and financials for industries to help build an income statement and balance sheet?

People conduct business research for many reasons including personal interest, school projects, professional needs and sometimes simple curiosity. Most people have no experience doing business research and tend to rely on free web tools and basic searches.

Students at RIT have access to premium, fee-based business research tools with company profiles, market research, industry overviews and financials. Students at RIT also have access to an experienced business librarian who can coach business research skills, strategies and techniques. Learning which resources are appropriate for each project along with learning how to search and make the most of a resource takes practice and time.

Effective business research requires:

• Knowledge of how business information is produced/gathered
• Access to premium or fee-based resources in addition to free resources such as company websites
• Opportunities to practice searching and applying information
• Access to information professional to coach new researchers

The library subscribes to a few of the premium resources available for market and industry research. You must access them through library links. A few things to keep in mind:

• Is my product/service for the consumer (b2c) or for a business (b2b)? This will help you know which databases might have info.
• Is my product/service sold in the U.S. only or in other countries? This will help you know which databases might have info.
• It is possible your industry/product/service has little or even no coverage in the resources you have access to. Always check the amount of information available to you before choosing your topic so you know what to expect.

Note that different market research resources offered through the library cover different audiences and different geographies. For b2c use Mintel and Passport  and the databases listed for b2b. For b2b use IBISWorld, NetAdvantage, Investext and First Research.

Market research is extremely expensive because of the expertise and time that goes into gathering, analyzing and presenting information. We buy access to a lot of research but not everything. You will discover on the web many other resources we cannot afford which is exactly the same situation that happens when running a business.

The library does not at this time subscribe to Statista or IbisWorld. These are two sources that many students find via Google searches due these vendors' excellent use of SEO. Try the products listed on this page instead.