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Research Guide for Small Business and Entrepreneurship

For additional assistance or comments about this guide, contact:
Kay Oistad, Associate Librarian
Business and Resort & Hospitality Management
Email: koistad@fgcu.edu
Phone: 239-590-7604

Reference Materials - In library use only

Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios (Troy, Leo) REF HF5681.R25 A45 2008
Business Plans Handbook : a Compilation of Actual Business Plans Developed by Small Businesses Throughout North America (13 volumes) REF HD62.7 .B865
Community Sourcebook of County Demographics  REF HA203.S65 (Annual)
Community Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics  REF HA203.S66 (Annual)
Demographics USA; County Edition  REF HF5415.1.D46 (Annual)
Demographics USA; Zip Edition  REF HF5415.3.D463 (Annual)
Encyclopedia of Small Business REF HD62.7 .H553 2007
Lee County Perspective (BEBR) REF HA317.L44 L4 (Annual)
RMA Annual Statement Studies  REF HF5681.B2 R58 (Annual)
Small Business Sourcebook  REF HD2346.U5 S65 2008

E-Books

Business Plans Handbook; 13 volumes (on-campus access only)
Business Plans to Game Plans; 2004
Encyclopedia of Small Business; 2007
Entrepreneur's Guide to Managing Growth and Handling Crises; 2008
Entrepreneur's Guide to Writing Business Plans and Proposals; 2008
Legal Guide for Starting and Running a Small Business; 2003
The 7 Irrefutable Rules of Small Business Growth; 2005
Small Business Bible; 2005
Unofficial Guide to Starting a Small Business; 2004

Books Available for Check-out

Creating a Business Plan: Expert Solutions to Everyday Challenges HD30.28 2007
The Entrepreneur & Small Business Problem Solver  HD62.7.C63 2006
The Entrepreneur’s Information Sourcebook  HD62.5.A96 2006
How to Write a Great Business Plan for Your Small Business in 60 Minutes or Less  HD62.7.F855 2006
No Man's Land: What to do when Your Company is too Big to be Small and too Small to be Big HD62.7.T38 2007
101 Small Business Ideas for Under $5000  HD62.5.S272 2005

Online Databases
The databases listed here are the most relevant for small business. Additional business databases are available from the Articles & Databases page.

ABI/INFORM Complete
ABI/Inform Complete simultaneously searches ABI/INFORM Global, Archive, Dateline, and Trade & Industry databases. Full-text articles from over 2,800 titles are available. Topics include business and economic conditions, management techniques, business trends, management practice and theory, corporate strategy and tactics, and competitive landscape worldwide.

Access World News
Local, regional, and national newspapers as well as key business sources for large or small business and industry information.

Business and Company Resource Center
Company profiles, rankings, investment reports, histories, financials, and industry overviews, investment reports, associations.

D&B Key Business Ratios on the Web
Fourteen key business ratios for 800 lines of business.

Hoover's Company Records
Up to date proprietary editorial content covering more than 40,000 public and non-public companies and 225,000 key executives; in depth industry analyses, information on a company's location, summary financials, top competitors, top officers, etc.

Investext Plus
Integrates financial, marketing and corporate information, company and industry analyst reports.  Provides 50,000 investment reports on over 11,000 companies and 53 industries.

ReferenceUSA
Directory of basic company information, private, local, and national for 14 million businesses.

Standard & Poor's Net Advantage
Access to nine of the most popular S&P publications including Stock Reports, Industry Surveys, Corporation Records, and The Outlook.

Stat-USA - State of the Nation
Obtain current and historical U.S. economic and financial data.

Stat-USA - Globus and NTDB
Obtain current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, country analysis, and access to the National Trade Data Bank

Value Line Investment Survey
Company and industry analytics from a variety of Value Line publications.

Web Resources

www.bebr.ufl.edu  - Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida.  Population and economic data.

http://www.bonitaspringschamber.com/ - Local chambers of commerce are a great resource.

www.business.gov - Information from a wide variety of government sources with links to information on industries, population, and demographic resources. Includes a variety of small business guides.

http://cli.fgcu.edu/sbdc - FGCU’s Small Business Development Center, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, provides links to a wealth of electronic resources for small business throughout Florida.

www.florida-business-data.com - Florida population statistics and census data. Has links to local newspapers.

www.leecountybusiness.com - Lee County’s business Information web site.  Includes a business directory of local companies and their websites.

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12000.html - Quick facts from the US Census Bureau for state, county, city, and zip code level.

www.sba.gov - Training, publications, advisory services, financial offerings, and special programs.

www.score.org - National organization of thousands of business executives who volunteer to provide free counseling, workshops, and seminars.

http://www.stateofflorida.com/portal/desktopdefault.aspx - The ultimate source for Florida information.

Journals and News - Search the E-Journal Portal for the following full-text periodicals:

Advertising Age
Black Enterprise
Crain’s Small Business
Fortune Small Business
Inc.
Journal of Small Business Management
Journal of Small Business Strategy
Small Business Economic Trends
Small Business Economics

Revised 7/7/08