BUS 164 Entrepreneurship

This guide will help students in Bus164 with research on industry profiles, statistics and trends, market assessments, and evaluating information

Sample Business Publications in Holman Library Databases

Business News

Journals

Use the links below to access journal collections both in the library's collection and online.

Multimedia

Use the links below to access multimedia sources.

Find Company Information

Using Business Insights

Use Business Insights Global to find company information, including Company Profiles, SWOT Reports, Industry Analyses, Plunkett Reports, and more. In this database, do pay attention to date! You need current information.

Business Insights Global offers both industry and company research. Search or browse for reports. 

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Business Insights Global Industry Research

 

  • As shown in the image below, you can enter a specific company or use the entry points in the menu at the top to find relevant business information. The image, showing a search of Amazon, returns a range of information from Brands to SWOT Reports

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Business Insights Global search results, highlighting the menu options at the top to use to find different source types and information

Find company profiles in Business Source Premier.

  • In the example below, see the Marketline Report homepage for 3M Company. 
  • Below the PDF of the profile, note links to related helpful information including academic journals, trade and SWOT reports.

MarketLine Company Profile: 3M

How to Use ProQuest Business Collections

ProQuest Business by default searches three separate databases including

  1. ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry

  2. Research Library: Business

  3. The Wall Street Journal

Search for information on specific companies or industries in ProQuest Business 

Type in your search terms, or keywords, to find relevant information. 

  • Be sure to limit to full-text articles if you need access immediately.
  • A search for information about the growth of Starbucks franchises might include Starbucks AND franchise AND growth as in the image below.
  • Set a date limit for current enough information. 

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search in business database

Tips:

  • Try different search terms to get to the most relevant articles.

  • If you get too many titles, try adding another search term to narrow and focus your results.

  • You can limit by year of publication.

  • You can limit by full text (which means you will only get articles you can read in entirety).

How do you know which articles meet your needs?

Your search results list looks like this. 

  • Click on the title to find and read the abstract, or summary, to understand the key focus of the article or report. Is it what you are looking for?
  • Use the menu on the left to further focus your search for the right information.
  • My Starbucks franchise growth search yielded 10 articles, though not all look relevant. 
    • Try changing the search field to Subject to find the most relevant results.

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results in database

Search in all Holman Library databases at once with One Search. 

  • Note: Individual business databases offer search filters and subject terms that are particularly useful for researching business topics.
  • Also note: You cannot limit to trade journals in the One Search. 

Free Company Information Online

Many companies post public information online on their freely accessible websites. While you won't find confidential or competitive information here, there is still much to be learned.

What are industry stats?

Industry Statistics

Industry statistics describe things like total industry sales and industry growth rates. They reflect the perspective of the producers.

You can learn about an industry by reading statistics and analyses of the industry as a whole, or you can focus on one particular company within the industry.

This page shows you places to look for that information.

Trade Associations

USA.gov, the US government website, compiles an index of trade associations. Find your trade and learn more about the professional world of your business: 

Industry Trends and Growth Rates

Subjects: Business