Table of Contents
General Business Information ...........................................................................1
Financial Information ..............................................................................................2
Demographic Information ...................................................................................3
Directories .....................................................................................................................3
Market Research Tutorials ...................................................................................4
Search Engines...........................................................................................................4
1
Selected Market Research Resources
The SBDC National Information Clearinghouse
http://sbdcnet.utsa.edu
General Business Information:

American City Business Journals - Business news for large US cities. Search for
articles on industry trends, compare similar businesses in other cities, and check
competition.

American Demographics Magazine - Discover trends, obtain marketing ideas, and
identify markets for businesses that market to consumers; fee for full text.

Edward Lowe Foundation - The Ed Lowe Foundation maintains a searchable database
of articles, book chapters, and SBA publications dealing with a wide variety of small
business issues.

EntreWorld (Kauffman Center) - The Kauffman Foundation supports entrepreneurial
education. Their website provides a good source for training materials.

Fedstats - Internet portal for U.S. government created statistics. Start here if you are not
sure which government agency produces the statistics you need.

FindArticles.com - Search for full text articles of newspapers, industry trade periodicals,
and general business magazines.

Forbes - Online version of Forbes magazine.

Inc Magazine - Search for general business trends at this popular business magazine’s
website.

Manufacturing.net - This is a portal site for manufacturing industry information and links
to suppliers.

NAICS (North American Industrial Classification System) - The new system that will
replace the SIC within the next few years. NAICS was created in order to compare and
track the economies in Canada, Mexico and the United States. The 1997 US Economic
Census is reported by NAICS. NAICS codes can be located at the NAICS hyperlink
above. See also: SIC.

SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) - All establishments are assigned a
classification by the Federal Government for statistical and other reporting purposes
based upon their primary business function. Most private and public statistics are
reported at the SIC level. SICs can be located at the SIC hyperlink above. See also:
NAICS.

Small Business Sourcebook (Gale Group) – Annual source of information related to
starting specific types of small businesses. Typical entries include article citations for
start-up info, associations, trade publications, reference works, statistics, supply sources
and databases.
2

SmartStart Your <State> Business (Oasis Press) – A book series with general
business information specific to individual states. It includes federal and state agency
contacts, sample legal forms, business plan guidelines, marketing information, and
human resources advice.

Stat-USA - Statistics for international trade and domestic industry; some of the
resources require a fee.

Strategis - A Canadian government perspective of American business utilizing statistics.

Valuation Resources - Offers links to associations, industry reports, and other pertinent
industry specific information (classified by SIC); some require a fee.
Financial Information:

Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios (Dr. Leo Troy; Prentice Hall) –
Annual publication of ratios and industry norms in actual dollar figures derived from IRS
data. Each industry includes performance indicators such as total assets, cost of
operations, wages, asset turnover, and profit margins.

Federal Reserve Banks - Federal Reserve Banks provide statistics, conduct surveys,
and research special topics. For instance, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
maintains the Center for the Study of Rural America
http://www.kc.frb.org/RuralCenter/RuralMain.htm.

Financial Studies of the Small Business (Financial Research Associates) - Similar to
RMA, but surveys only small and micro-business industries for service, retail, contractors,
wholesalers, professional and manufacturing. Provides assets, top 25% in sales and five
year trend data in a small loose leaf binder.

IRS Small Business Resource Guide - Overview of specialized small businesses,
including financial concerns and tax related issues.

Market Share Reporter (Gale Group) – Annual publication organized by SIC categories
(industry groups). Reports percentage of market held by leading companies in each
category covered. Usually gives total market size for each category.

Risk Management Association (RMA) Annual Statement Studies – A traditional
resource for ratios derived from statements of commercial bank borrowers and prospects.
Organized by 4 digit SIC code, most editions contain only national averages. Available in
print or on the Internet as a subscription.

Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys – Subscription based surveys in 52 industries.
Each topic contains trends, comparative company analyses, and forecasts. Each survey
is published independent of the other topics.
3
Demographic Information:

American Factfinder (US Census) - Find demographic and economic data for a
particular geographic area. See also: http://www.census.gov.

MOSAIC Lifestyle Demographics - Population segmented demographically according
to the styles of living in communities; 12 basic groups briefly mentioned here but more
detail is available for purchase.

Household Spending: Who Spends How Much on What (New Strategist) - Gives
household spending averages based on Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer
Expenditure Survey. Includes 35,000 different spending records from homes and cars, to
apparel and food. Also contains average spending by age and gender.

The Sourcebook of ZIP Code Demographics (ESRI) - Annual demographic information
by zip code including population, race, age, income, and expenditure data for
entertainment, automotive, food and more for each ZIP code in the US.

State Data Centers - In partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau, State Data Centers
provide estimates and projections and other economic data for each state.
See also: http://econdata.net and http://sbdcnet.utsa.edu/SBIC/demograpics.htm.

Directories:


American Society of Association Executives - Some trade associations are listed on
this site.
American Wholesaler and Distributor Directory (Gale Research) – Publication of
wholesalers and distributors sorted by product category and by state.

Catalog of Catalogs (Woodbine House) – Billed as “The Complete Mail-Order
Directory” this resource contains the descriptions and contact information to 14,000
catalogs. It is indexed by subject and by company name.

Corporate Information - Search for data about a specific company. Mostly for public
companies, but some private company data is also available.

Directory of Manufacturers' Sales Agencies (Manufacturing Agents National
Association) – Alphabetic list of manufacturer’s sales agencies and by state; section on
selecting a sales agent. All companies included are members of the Association.

Encyclopedia of Associations (Gale Group) – Annual publication to thousands of
National and International organizations. Contains contact information and descriptions
and has an index for name, key word, and geographic area. (Online version is Gale
Ready Reference.)
4


Franchise Handbook – Online version of the handbook, which lists franchises by
industry or name. See also http://bison1.com for a directory and articles supporting the
franchisee and their startup.
Thomas Food Industry Register - Online subscription or 3 volume set of food
manufacturers and suppliers to the food industry.

Thomas Register of Manufacturing - This widely used directory includes national listing
of most manufacturing firms.

Trade Shows – Fill in the blanks and obtain a list of upcoming trade shows for a
particular industry, domestic and foreign locations.

Virtual Community of Associations - Locate industry associations from this site.
Market Research Tutorials:
Search for a company online
Typical steps to find information on a company
Industry Information
Small Business Administration
Sample Business Plans/Business Planning Guides
SBA Women’s Business Center - Provides startup business tutorials for anyone, including
women, and helpful links for further information.
Search Engines:
Simple Search Engine: Google
Search Engine w/ Directory: http://www.altavista.com ; Yahoo
Multi-Search Engine: Metacrawler ; Dogpile
Please e-mail additions and/or corrections to Judith K. Johnson at Judith.Johnson@utsa.edu
Revised November 2005.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Any
opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of SBDCNet and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. SBA. This U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
Grant is funded by the SBA. SBA’s funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions, or
services. All SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis.