What are the best methods of acquiring market and competitive research for your industry?
In my case, my industry happens to be retail clothing for athletes in Action Sports, but I am assuming we could connect with varying people trying to help each other and sharing their methods for acquiring this kind of information without having to pay literally THOUSANDS of dollars. Can anyone share their best methods in detail?
I have recently explored the information on www.hoovers.com and found it to be most helpful. Their "lite" package runs $599/yr, which isn’t so bad and you are able to get detailed information on all kinds of companies, both public and private. Obviosuly the public information is more well-rounded, but the information on the privately-held companies was sufficient to give me a good start on my competitive analysis.
The online versions of the top business magazines all have archives and white papers for free. Check out Fortune, Forbes and Inc Magazine. Hoover’s is also a great resource for company and industry information.
Our county library has an online database that is keyword searchable for thousands of newspapers, magazines and trade publications.
The information is out there, you just have to spend some time digging.
Good luck.
The online versions of the top business magazines all have archives and white papers for free. Check out Fortune, Forbes and Inc Magazine. Hoover’s is also a great resource for company and industry information.
Our county library has an online database that is keyword searchable for thousands of newspapers, magazines and trade publications.
The information is out there, you just have to spend some time digging.
Good luck.
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You can get many ideas by searching small businesses on this site:
http://entrepreneur.com/
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Go to your main library branch and talk to the librarian. Most of them will be able to pull up current research trends for you and tell you where your resources are in your community. Small business centres and government agents all can provide this information as well, but start at your local library.
I did this when starting several businesses and got excellent information that resulted in some top notch business plans. Best of all: IT’S FREE.
References :
google
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