1. July 2006 Business Intelligence Research Joyline Makani, MLIS, MBA Management & Economics Librarian Tel: 494-2726 Email: makani@dal.ca

2. July 2006 Agenda for today Why research Primary VS Secondary Market Research Business Information Flow Exploring an idea/identifying an opportunity Practice what you have learnt & discussion Break Industry/Market & Competitive intelligence research resources Work on your projects

3. July 2006 WHY Research? Investing some time in researching the industry, customers and competitors for your product increases your chances of success in the marketplace. Researching your potential market can help you answer the following questions: Who is your customer? What product or service are you selling? Who is your competition? What is your target market? Pricing? Promotion and selling?

4. July 2006 Primary VS Secondary Market Research Most Entrepreneurs conduct two types of research: primary and secondary market research Primary market research Involves collecting information directly from the marketplace through interviews, surveys etc. Expensive and very time consuming. Secondary market Research Most small businesses begin researching their markets using secondary market research techniques.

5. July 2006 Matching secondary research resources with specific questions Exploring an idea/identifying an opportunity Articles, www Research the Market/IndustryArticles, www, Industry profiles, Government information, demographic reports, Analyst reports Research Competitors Company Reports, Analyst reports, Industry Profiles

6. July 2006 Business Information Flow Event/Invention/Discovery Occurs Same Day: News Sources Next Day: Trade Journals One Week: Analysts’ Reports Week and a Half: Popular Magazines Five Months: Scholarly Journals Ten Months: Books

7. July 2006 Exploring an idea/identifying an opportunity Articles published in business journals – always a good starting point for exploring ideas. Search in:  ABI/Inform Global Fulltext ABI/Inform Global Fulltext  ABI/Inform Trade & Industry  CBCA Fulltext BusinessCBCA Fulltext Business  FACTIVAFACTIVA

8. July 2006 Hands on! – Let’s practice what we have learnt

9. July 2006 Industry Research MarketLine Business Information Centre Investext Plus STRATEGISSTRATEGIS (Industry Canada) ABI/Inform Global ABI/Inform Trade & Industry CBCA Fulltext Business

10. July 2006 Market Data/Demographics Market Research Handbook ESTAT Statistical profile of Canadian Communities Population projections for Canada

11. July 2006 Research your competitors MarketLine Investext PInvestext PLUS FACTIVA Hoovers Online Mergent Online

12. July 2006 Sample Business Plans Business tools: Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Canada/Nova Scotia Business Service Centre: MootCorp Business Plan Examples

13. July 2006 Citing and Referencing Use information ethically and legally!

14. July 2006 Test Your Knowledge!