Market Research: Introduction

Entrepreneurs or product developers who want to write a business plan or need to know what the market is for their product and cannot afford commercial market research reports can develop their own market research reports.

Look at LibGuides for Business on Fondren Library's Homepage.  There are separate guides on industry information, public company resources, private company resources, NAICS/SIC Codes and their uses, and Ratio Analysis.

1. Industry Overview--includes current status and outlook for the industry, government regulations or actions affecting the industry and industry trends.
2. Competitors--evaluation of competitor environment and possible competitors
3. Market Analysis--find information on customer needs and target markets (consumers, B2B, institutional)
4. Commercial Market Research Reports

These databases cover academic journals, magazines, and trade journals for up-to-date news on industries.