Market Research

Research the industry trends, competition, and potential consumers to find where your business idea fits in the market.

Tips

Starting points:

Identify the industry or industries your business will be in, then find an industry report for the closest related industry. What are the current trends?
Find a competitor. What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Using market research, identify a target market. What need does your product or service meet?

Suggested strategies:

If you can't pinpoint an industry, try looking up a company that is similar and see what industries it is in.
Looking for a niche industry? Look at broader industries in addition to searching trade publications for articles.
When looking for data, consider who might collect that information: Government agencies? Industry associations? Research centers?

Select Resources

The subscription resources below marked with a padlock are available to researchers on-site at the Library of Congress. If you are unable to visit the Library, you may be able to access these resources through your local public or academic library.

Business Source Complete External This link opens in a new window
Provides bibliographic and full text content for thousands of the most important scholarly journals, magazines, and trade publications covering all disciplines of business. This database also contains SWOT analyses, company profiles, and industry reports. Search using keywords related to your industry or product.
IBISWorld External This link opens in a new window
Detailed market research reports and analysis on over 700 U.S. industries. The Library’s subscription also includes U.S. Specialized Industries and U.S. Business Environment Profiles. Onsite public users cannot download the reports, but limited printing of report sections is available.
Reading Room patrons have read-only access without downloads to the licenses product.
Nexis Uni External This link opens in a new window
Contains over 6,000 news, business, and legal sources. Use the included Company Dossier module to retrieve detailed company information on over 43 million US and international companies, or to generate lists of business based on certain criteria.
Data Axle Reference Solutions External This link opens in a new window
Directory information for publicly and privately owned companies in the United States and Canada, as well as information about individual consumers in both countries. Use the search boxes on the database homepage, or use the menu tabs to build custom lists to search by industry keywords, sales volume, number of employees, geographic location and more.
SimplyAnalytics External This link opens in a new window
SimplyAnalytics has data which answers key business research questions, provides small businesses with a tool for making sound business decisions, and helps users understand the socio-demographic and economic conditions of any geographic area in the United States. There are thousands of data variables related to demographics, employment, housing, market segments, businesses, consumer spending and brand preference. This geographic information resource allows for extraction and comparison of data for specific geographic areas as small as a zip code or Census block. It also provides colored maps and spreadsheets for business plans. Please use the guest sign in.
Statista External This link opens in a new window
Statista is an online statistics, market research and business intelligence portal. It provides access to data from market and opinion research institutions, as well as from business organizations and government institutions in English, French, German and Spanish.

The following materials link to fuller bibliographic information in the Library of Congress Online Catalog. Links to additional online content are provided when available.

Encyclopedia of Small Business by Gale Cengage Learning Staff (Editor)
Call Number: HD62.7 .H553 2017
ISBN: 9781414420318
Published/Created: 2017-02-23
Provides information on a wide range of topics of interest to small business owners. Includes bibliographies and index.
The Directory of Business Information Resources. by Grey House Publishing Inc.
Call Number: HF54.52.U5 D567
Published/Created: 1992-
Provides alphabetical listings for over 100 industries that include include name, address, phone, fax, web site, email, key contacts and a brief description.

These are freely available online sources provided by government agencies, trade publications, and organizations.

Census Business Builder, U.S. Census
The Census Business Builder (CBB) is a suite of services that provide selected demographic and economic data from the Census Bureau tailored to specific types of users in a simple to access and use format.
Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Bureau of Labor Statistics
The survey provides information on how much consumers spend on a variety of product categories, based on age, occupation, income, and other demographics.
QuickFacts, U.S. Census Bureau
This site includes data on U.S. population and demographics, housing, and businesses.

The following guides were created by the Library of Congress to give an in-depth list of resources on a specific topic.

Doing Company Research
This guide provides ideas and strategies for researching companies, with a focus on more common sources that may be of use for those looking for information on companies that are active and for those looking for current information.
Doing Industry Research
This guide is designed as a starting point for those looking for current information on industries. In addition, some historical sources are also included.
Doing Consumer Research
Consumer research involves finding data on consumer behaviors or preferences, in order to establish a target market segment for products or services. This guide provides links to a wide variety of useful resources for your research.

Small Business Hub: A Research Guide for Entrepreneurs

Market Research

Tips

Starting points:

Suggested strategies:

Select Resources