If your project's company is a smaller, local company it may not be in some of the larger business databases. Here are strategies you can use to find information:
Strategy #1: Search for a company website.
Strategy #2: Search databases that contain some private company information. Suggested databases:
By researching a company that is similar to your own you may be able find analysis that explain key issues that could be affecting your project's company including opportunities and threats, consumer trends, and issues affecting the supply chain.
Strategy #4: Look for news articles in local newspapers and periodicals. Three databases that may help you find articles mentioning your company are:
Identify the NAICS Codes of the industries you are researching!
Industry codes are numbers used to describe a company's line of business. Many business databases including the US Economic Census are searchable by NAICS codes. The current standard for industry codes is the 6-digit North American Industry Classification Systems (NAICS) code.
Researching Niche/Emerging Industries
If you are researching an emerging industry or a very specialized industry it may be more difficult to locate industry overviews and other industry analysis. Some strategies you can consider using to find information:
Look for articles in popular and trade journals (magazines and newspapers) that discuss this industry
Help I can only find national data and I need data for Indiana...(or Carmel...or the midwest)
When you can only find national data for your market size but you want to narrow it down to a smaller geographic area, you may need to back into this information often by making an assumption that the proportion of the market that Indiana (or whatever market you are considering) provides will be similar to the proportion that that market contributes to another economic indicator such as GDP, new residential construction starts, business establishments, etc, or local demographic information such as daytime employment or population (easily findable using Demographics Now).
Example: You are trying to determine the market size for Indiana but only have national market size numbers for your industry. You decide GDP would be a good economic indicator to use. If you use GDP you need to locate the total US GDP and Indiana GDP. Calculate % that Indiana contributes to national GDP and multiple by the national industry market size your found to estimate the Indiana market size.
Don't always use GDP. When discussing your analysis for your forecast in the second deliverable you may need to explain your assumption. A good source for economic indicators: US Bureau of Economic Analysis
MRI Simmons (Formerly Simmons Insights) allows you to find information that can help you develop a demographic profile of your customer. It can be used for both B2B and B2C buyers. Below the database link is a detailed tutorial on how to interact with the Simmons Insights database while creating a B2B demographic profile, followed by links to shorter videos on other topics.
How to create a demographic profile
(Example shows how to make one for someone who makes business purchase decisions at work but can be used for also consumer and brand related queries)
How to Use Cross-Tabs in MRI Simmons (~6 minute video)
How to understand Index. (2:34 minute video)
