Market Research to Achieve
Success - SBDCNet
Judith Kraatz Johnson,
Lead Librarian
SBDCNet Services
Presented by the
SBDC National Information
Clearinghouse
Serving more than 1,000 SBDC
offices since October 1998
Save Five Hours
What can you do with an
extra five hours in your
workday?
Based on evaluations received in FY 03.
SBDCNet Mission
Provide timely, relevant,
and free research to
SBDC counselors in the
U.S. and its territories
How Can SBDCNet Help You?
Reduce “in-box” stress
Fill in the information gaps
An added benefit to SBDC
services to clients
Another “staff” member
Our Staff
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1 Director (MA)
1 Assistant Director (MA)
3 Reviewers (2 MLS & 1 BBA)
3 Business Research Associates
(1 MA & 2 BBA)
• 4 Research Assistants
(Graduate & Upperclassmen)
• 1 Admin (BA) + Support Staff
• 5 Practicum Students
19 Staff – 11/2004
Contacting SBDCNet
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Internet: http://sbdcnet.utsa.edu
Email: sbdcnet@utsa.edu
Telephone 1-800-689-1912
Fax 210-458-7840
What We Can Do
• Serve SBDC counselors not clients.
• Locate published market research data,
articles, demographics, and financial ratios.
• Search patent and trademark files online.
• Provide demographic information for
market analysis (GIS).
• Provide sample business plans.
What We Can Do - Part II
• 24/7 website of industry links for use by
counselors and clients.
• Lend Entrepreneur Guides.
• Train the SBDC community.
Geographic Information
System
• 2002 Census with 2007 and 2012
projections from Applied Geographic
Solutions.
• Radii or ring studies.
• Variables: age, sex, race and ethnicity,
household, income, education, occupation.
• Our expert: Michael Cline
Geographic Information System
What We CANNOT Do
• Provide legal or medical advice and the
interpretation.
• Compile mailing and marketing lists.
SBDCNet Resources
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Web site http://sbdcnet.utsa.edu
Print collection and CD-ROMs
Online databases/Univ.TX - San Antonio
State Data Center (BIDC)
Internet access
Web Site
http://sbdcnet.utsa.edu
Counselor Area
• Information Request Form
• E-newsletter
• Training Class Info
• Links to 641s, 1062s, & 888s
Small Business Information Center
Industry Links
Local SBDC Search
Reference Books at SBDCNet
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Small Business Sourcebook
Business Plans Handbook (9 volumes)
Financial Studies of the Small Business
Lifestyle Market Analyst
RMA Annual Statement Studies
Household Spending
Best Customers
Selected Books
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The Toy and Game Inventor’s Guide
Starting a Medical Practice
Dollars and Cents of Shopping Centers
2001 Restaurant Industry Operations Report
1001 Retail Ideas to Create Retail Excitement
Guerilla Marketing
Marketing Your Invention
Building an Import/Export Business
Lending Rules
• Entrepreneur Magazine Guides and Books
– Titles available for 2 week checkout
– Return via traceable carrier
– Books loaned on case by case basis
SBDCNet - Online Databases
• “ProQuest Direct” (articles and newspapers)
• “Academic Universe/Lexis-Nexis” (news,
medical, finance, and articles)
• “GaleNet Ready Reference”(trade
associations)
The Final Product
• Passes quality control measures.
• Email includes introduction, evaluation
form, disclaimer, and research.
• Sent via email, snail mail, or fax.
• Turnaround: 2 weeks.
Keyword Operators
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Boolean
Plus/Minus signs
Quotation marks
Truncation
www.infopeople.org/search/guide.html for
the “Best Search Engines Quick Guide
Boolean
• AND – both words are in the document
(similar to +)
• NEAR(or ADJ) - one word found within a
specified number of words
• OR – at least one word is present
• NOT – excludes a word (similar to -)
Quotation Marks
• The words within the quote marks are
treated as a phrase
• Similar to the Boolean operator NEAR or
ADJacent)
Truncation
• The stem of a word is what is searched with
variant endings
• May happen automatically or require use of
an asterisk * to indicate the search function
• Result of search* is searches, searched,
searching.
Additional Hints
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Check your spelling
Case sensitivity?
Word variants like “car wash” or “carwash”
Too many hits - use more specific terms
Few hits or none - select broader terms
Search SIC/NAICS at www.census.gov
Small Business Topics
• Ed Lowe http://peerspectives.org
• Entre World http://www.entreworld.org
• Small Business Plan Guide
http://www.smallbusinessplanguide.com
Industry Overviews
• www.valuationresources.com for fee and
free industry information
• www.bizjournals.com for major city
markets
• www.looksmart.com for trade journal
articles
• www.find.com for business content
Competitive Information
• ZapData (http://www.zapdata.com) - market
data by state and metro areas; fees for
prospecting lists
• InfoSpace (www.infospace.com) - locate
competitors nearby
Demographics
• ESRI-BIS (www.esribis.com) - for lifestyle
chracteristics and free zip code information
• MelissaData (www.MelissaData.com) - free
lookups
• Census (www.census.gov) - demographic
data and geographic searching
SBDCNET
Questions?
Send e-mail to:
Sbdcnet@utsa.edu
or call us:
1-800-689-1912