FLORIDA SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER AT IRSC
THE DEMAND IS OUT THERE – BUT WHERE?
SMART MARKET RESEARCH CAN HELP
BY NANCY DAHLBERG
Researching your market thoroughly is
time well spent, and databases can open
up a world of information.
The Florida Small Business Development
Center at Indian River State College can
provide a business owner and operator access
to market research and demographic
databases that can help the business grow,
expand and potentially increase sales and
revenues. These database and research
tools will help the business mine trade
data, industry financial data, government
contract information and regional demographic
data, allowing the business owner
to make more informed decisions regarding
growth strategy.
The majority of the databases referenced
in this article are available by
subscription only. While costs of subscriptions
can be cost prohibitive for a small
business, the Florida SBDC at IRSC maintains
access to these subscriptions in order
to help entrepreneurs and small business
operators with their strategic planning.
IBISWORLD
For example, IBISWorld is the largest
provider of industry research in the U.S.,
and it isn’t just useful to big companies.
The comprehensive collection of economic,
demographic and government data
reports help identify business operating
risks and opportunities across 1,300-plus
industries. Each industry report includes
the most detailed performance data and
analysis on the market, procurement
analysis, supply chain information, forecasts,
operating strengths and weaknesses,
analysis of external drivers, major player
market strategies, and industry profit and
costs benchmarks.
Each report is in the same format, about
36 pages. What can a small business mine
from this report? Plenty.
Florida SBDC at IRSC consultant George
“Duke” Evans states the IBISWorld reports
provide critical market information such
as industry performance. Evans reads the
trends and outlook section for potential
business opportunities. There is also
information on products and markets,
where you can review the segmentation to
understand the size and growth (or not) of
each one, he says.
The IBISWorld report gives him insight
into the competitive landscape for a
company, as he can think about and know
more about the key success factors as well
as the SWOT analysis of the business and
of their competitors. Evans can check out
the information of similar industries too,
and additional resources are suggested for
more probing.
REFERENCEUSA
According to Evans, another smart
source is ReferenceUSA, a market research
database with detailed information
on more than 14 million U.S. businesses,
262 million U.S. consumers and their
lifestyles, and international companies.
Map-based geography searches and
neighborhood data make this a useful
tool in researching target markets and the
competition.
ReferenceUSA and databases like it
TCBusiness.com 49
George “Duke” Evans, who holds a
BS in engineering and an MBA in
finance, has more than 10 years of
manufacturing experience, owning
one manufacturing company and
serving as the VP of finance for two
other organizations. In addition
to Duke’s extensive manufacturing
background, he also owned
and operated five different retail
stores over 15 years. Before Duke
joined the Florida SBDC at Indian
River State College in 2009, he
consulted and conducted business
workshops for a community college
in Arizona. During this time
Duke also owned an accounting
and consulting business for more
than 10 years.
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/TCBusiness.com
