Research Guides: Business: Entrepreneurship

Articles & News

Entrepreneur.com
"Includes a small business encyclopedia with basic information and definitions on small business and entrepreneurship."
Journal of Business Venturing (scholarly journal)
- This link opens in a new window
Research on all aspects of entrepreneurship. Spans the disciplines of economics, psychology, and sociology.
**Find more peer-reviewed journal articles in the Article & Report Databases tab, above.**
Forbes
- This link opens in a new window
News, strategy, and more. This is our full-text subscription to Forbes. You can also go to the website, (www.forbes.com) but some content will be blocked.

Factiva This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Use Factiva to read The Wall Street Journal or other newspapers. To browse today's paper: Click "News Pages" in the top menu. Explore the page.
New York Times Digital Edition This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window

Entrepreneur Education & Mentoring

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)
Learn about business plans, calculate startup costs, & more.
SCORE
The nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, with more than 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters. SCORE has helped more than 10 million entrepreneurs through mentoring, workshops and educational resources since 1964.
Entrepreneurship.org
Includes resources and educational tools for entrepreneurs.
Bplans: Sample business plans
Huge collection of sample business plans. Bplans offers tutorials, news, and many planning resources, but will ask you to pay for some of them.

Films On Demand This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Thousands of educational videos. Search for "startup."

Consumer Data

Consumer Insights | Statista
- This link opens in a new window
Explore brands, track trends, and understand your target audience
Census Bureau Data
Statistics about American population, housing, industry, and business; create reference and thematic maps, and search for specific data
State & County QuickFacts | U.S. Census
Virginia's Demographic Regions
Hosted by UVa's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service
Surveys of Consumers | University of Michigan
Information on consumer expectations regarding the overall economy gathered via web surveys
American Customer Satisfaction Index
National measure of customer satisfaction for both the private and public sector
Consumer Expenditure Surveys
From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, data on expenditures, income, and demographic characteristics of consumers in the United States

NAICS & SIC Codes

The US Government assigns codes to business segments and industries. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) replaced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system in 1997. Use these codes to search for your industry in databases like Business Source Complete or ABI Complete.

Look up NAICS codes
Use this site from the US Census Bureau to look up an industry's NAICS code.
Enter keywords into the "2012 NAICS Search" box. You may need to try several keywords to find the best code for your industry.
NAICS-to-SIC code converter
Find the SIC codes that match your industry's NAICS codes.

International Industry Codes
Lookup UN and European industry codes and find their US counterparts.

Industry Reports & Statistics

Factiva This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Use the Companies/Markets tab to browse industries.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Extensive industry research, information, and analysis
MERGENT Online This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Click Industry Analysis, or search for a specific industry.
Statista This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Now including Consumer Insights! Quantitative data and data visualizations on media, business, finance, politics, and other topics

US Bureau of Labor Statistics: Industry Overviews
Occupational Outlook Handbook
Find out basic information about a position or occupation.

Market Research

Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
On the search page, select Market Research Reports under Publication Type.
ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
On the search page, select Market Report and Market Research under Document Type.
IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Extensive industry research, information, and analysis
Statista This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Now including Consumer Insights! Quantitative data and data visualizations on media, business, finance, politics, and other topics

American Community Survey (ACS)
from the U.S. Census Bureau, provides demographic, economic, social, and housing information derived from annual surveys
Census Business Builder (CBB) | U.S. Census Bureau
A suite of services that provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau in a simple to use format
FRED Economic Data (Federal Reserve)
Download, graph, and track U.S. and international time series
Google Trends
Explore trends by country over time or select Trending to see what people are searching today
Insights | Circana
Information on market and consumer trends; filter by industry
Market Research and Competitive Analysis | U.S. Small Business Administration
Tools to find a competitive advantage for your small business
Marketing and Sales | U.S. Small Business Administration
Articles for developing small business marketing plans
Marketing Charts
Marketing data, graphics, and analyses. Not all content is free.
TrendWatching
This paid tool offers free quarterly summary reports.