First screen at assessing the feasibility of a business idea

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Internet Resource Table From “Preparing Effective Business Plans” by Bruce R. Barringer

Resource to Help Complete the First Screen Source Description Applicable

Parts of First Screen

Cost/Availability

American Factfinder (http://www.factfind er. census.gov)

An easy-to-use portal for obtaining census data. One quick way to retrieve data is to get a “Fact Sheet” on a geographic area (by city, county, or ZIP code), which provides population, medium household income, demographic breakdown (age, gender, race), and other information.

Part 3 Free

BizStats (http://www.bizstats .com)

Has a variety of detailed financial data on various retail categories. On the site, a user can type in the projected income of a firm, by industry, and receive a mock income statement in return.

Parts 2 and 5 Free

Business & Company Resource Center (http://www.gale. com/BusinessRC)

Access to information on the organization and structure of industries, current industry trends, and other information.

Parts 1 and 2 Fee based; typically free if accessed through a university library

City-Data.com (http://www. city- data.com)

Contains detailed information on cities, including median resident age, median household income, ethnic mix of residents, and aerial photos.

Part 3 Free

County Business Patterns (http://www.census. gov/ epcd/cbp/view/ cbpview.html)

Good resources for looking at business activity, including the number of competitors, at a city, county, or state level. For example, you can find the number of drycleaners (or any other business) in a specific ZIP code or city.

Parts 2 and 3 Free

Source Description Applicable

Parts of First Screen

Cost/Availability

Hoovers Online (http://www. hoovers.com)

Brief histories and financial information on companies, industries, people, and products. Premium service provides access to detailed financial information and 10-K reports for publicly traded firms.

Parts 2, 3, and 5

Free; premium version available on a fee basis or typically for free if accessed through a university library

IBISWorld (http://www.ibiswor ld. com)

Detailed reports available on hundreds of industries, including industry stats, trends, buyer behavior, and expected returns.

Parts 1, 2, 3, and 5

Fee based; typically free if accessed through a university library

Lexis-Nexis Academic (http://www. lexisnexis.com)

Provides access to sales data for public and private firms, which can be searched in a number of useful ways. Helps startups estimate the financial performance of similar businesses. Go to “Business” and then “Company Financial.”

Part 5 Fee-based; typically free if accessed through a university library

MagPortal.com (http://www.magpor tal.com)

Search engine and directory for finding online magazine articles. Helps startups by providing access to magazine articles about their product/ service and industry of interest. This information may be helpful in all areas of feasibility analysis.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Free

Mergent Online (http://www. mergentonline.com)

Provides near instant access to financial data, including income statements, balance sheets, and cash flows, on more than 10,000 U.S. public corporations.

Parts 2 and 5 Fee based; typically free if accessed through a university library

Mintel (http://www. mintel.com)

Detailed reports available on hundreds of industries, including industry stats, trends, buyer behavior, and expected returns.

Parts 1, 2, 3, and 5

Fee based; typically free if accessed through a university library

Source Description Applicable

Parts of First Screen

Cost/Availability

ProQuest (no public Web site available)

Very robust search engine for searching publications such as the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Useful for all areas of feasibility analysis.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.

Fee based; typically free if accessed through a university library

Quickfacts (http://quickfacts.ce nsus. gov)

A very quick way to access census bureau data, including population, median household income, census breakdowns by age and other demographic characteristics, and so on.

Parts 2 and 3 Free

ReferenceUSA (http://www.referen ceusa. com)

Provides contact information, estimated annual sales, credit rating score, year established, news, and other information on both public and private companies. Contains more information on private firms than many similar sites. Helps startups estimate the financial performance of similar businesses.

Part 5 Free

Standard & Poor’s NetAdvantage (http://www.netadva ntage.standardpoor. com)

Detailed reports available on hundreds of industries, including industry stats, trends, buyer behavior, and expected returns.

Parts 1, 2, 3, and 5

Fee based; typically free if accessed through a university library

Trade (and Professional) Association Directories (http://idii.com/reso urce/ associations.htm) (http://www. weddles.com/associ ations/index. cfm) (http://www. ipl.org/div/aon/)

Directories provide access to the Web site addresses of trade associations in all fields. The trade associations can be contacted to obtain information on all areas of feasibility.

Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Free

Source Description Applicable

Parts of First Screen

Cost/Availability

Yahoo! Industry Center (http://biz. yahoo.com/ic)

Provides a directory of industries, along with a list of the companies in each industry, the latest industry- related news, and performance data on the top companies in an industry.

Parts 2, 3, and 5

Free

FIGURE 2-1