ENT 5113: Entrepreneurship (Chawla)

This guide provides resources and ideas for market research for this class.

Access to Resources

From a user's perspective, the main difference between a library database and a website is access.

Library databases are available to users affiliated with UTSA, such as currently registered students, faculty, and staff through the library website. Most UTSA databases are available remotely with your abc123 login. Visitors can use most databases, but only onsite on library guest computers.
Websites (or certain sections of websites ) are accessible at any time to anyone and may be found through a web search. Some websites host open access databases which are available for free. Many kinds of websites are very important in business research, for example, government websites (SEC.gov, census.gov, etc.), company's investor pages, open access resources, news, some commercial sites, and many more.

Researching Mobile Apps

Conducting research for a business plan for a mobile app is different from a business with defined geographic reach and in more traditional industries. Here are suggested keywords to find relevant information and examples:

mobile apps

mobile applications

apps

mobile app startup

monetization

development cost

marketing strategies

business plan

market research

market landscape

Market Sizing

MaRS Discovery in Canada offers a robust suite of resources to tech entrepreneurs which also prove useful for building up market research skills. Review the webpage and take this quick course below.

Introduction to Market Sizing (MaRS Discovery)
Introduction to Market Sizing (MaRS Discovery)
A 30-minute course on market sizing.

UTSA Databases

Industry Research

IBISWorld This link opens in a new window
Contains detailed industry market reports for the U.S., based on the NAICS classification. Reports include industry performance, lifecycle, products and markets, supply chain, operating conditions, regulation and policy, key competitors, barriers to entry, outlook, and more. Specialized Industry Reports address more narrowly defined product/service segments or emerging industries.
AtoZ Databases This link opens in a new window
Create a list of companies / businesses within specified geography.
BizMiner This link opens in a new window
Provides detailed industry analysis and market research reports on more than 16,000 lines of business in national and local markets. Includes startup and small business statistics, such as annual sales and market share; failure rates; entrepreneurial activity rates; startup profit & loss detail and ratios; and detailed small business balance sheets, P & L, and ratios.

Market Research

Statista This link opens in a new window
Review the source of statistics to find addition information.
Market Research Academic This link opens in a new window
Aggregates market research reports from six publishers covering service industries, consumer goods, food & beverage, heavy industry, life sciences, public sector, technology & media.
Mintel Academic This link opens in a new window
Contains over 1,000 in-depth market research reports by Mintel analysts focusing on consumer goods, travel, health and well-being, technology, retail, and food and drink in the U.S., U.K., and western Europe. Includes market segmentation, size and trends, brand share analysis, supply structure, advertising, retail distribution, consumer lifestyles and attitudes, and more.
Passport (Euromonitor) This link opens in a new window
Focus on consumer goods and services. Provides access to market research data, country reports, company profiles, and statistics on countries, consumers, and industries for over 350 markets and 205 countries. Demographic, economic, and marketing statistics for countries worldwide, as well as several years of historic market size data for many consumer products in multiple countries, plus 5-year forecasts. Consumer lifestyles, companies and brands. Formerly known as GMID (Global Market Information Database).

Mapping

SimplyAnalytics This link opens in a new window
This web-based mapping and data analysis application enables users to develop interactive thematic maps and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data variables by state, county, city/place, ZIP code, census tract, block group, or custom area.

Articles

Wall Street Journal (Current) | WSJ.com This link opens in a new window
Register for free access to WSJ.com and the WSJ apps. Includes all WSJ articles, videos, interactive features, digital print daily edition, and more.
San Antonio Business Journal This link opens in a new window
Provides in-depth coverage and breaking news on the business communities in the local San Antonio area. Users must first register for an account using their UTSA email address to access the content.. After a personal account is created, users may login directly on the SABJ site.

Please refer to this Research Guide for additional information on registration and access.

Business Plans

Business Plans (ENT guide)
Resources for business plan examples.

Patents

Google Patents
Search for granted patents and applications from USPTO and translated patents from multiple international bodies. See About link for an updated list of countries. Also related non-patent literature. Filters are applied post-search.

Trademarks

USPTO Trademarks
The official U.S. Patent and Trademark Office site.
Trademarkia
A search engine for U.S. federally registered and international (the U.K., Canada, and Australia) trademarks.
Trademark Encyclopedia
Information on trademarks. Some data may be out of date.
Understanding Trademark Classes (Trademarkia)