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Hialeah Business Reference Resources: Research Help

Business Reference Resources

​Types of Business Information

  • Company Information

           Example: Who are the top executives at Google?

            Google company website

            Hoover's

  • Industry Information

           Example: Where can I find information on the American automobile industry?

            Business Source Complete

            Business Insights-Essentials

            Business Insights-Global

            Hoover's

  • Investing/Financial Information

​          Example: What is the price earnings ratio for Amazon?

            Hoover's

            Business Insights-Global

            Business Insights-Essentials

            Google Finance

            Yahoo Finance

  • Consumer Information/Business Statistics

          Example: What is the most current national unemployment rate?

            Bureau of Labor Statistics Data

            National Conference of State Legislatures

Frequently Asked Questions

1.     How can I get a sample business plan?

Recommended Database: Small Business Center Database

Other Sources: The U.S. Small Business Administration provides an excellent set of web pages on starting your own business, which includes a link to sample business plans available from bplans.com.

2.     Where can I find the history of a company?

Recommended Databases: Hoover's Premium; Business Source Complete; Business Insights Essential

Other Surces: Company website

3.     Where can I find standard industry ratios so I can compare the performance of company X to others in the industry?

Recommended Database: Hoover's Premium Database

4.   Where can I find information on starting a small business? I'm particularly interested in government loans and grants?

Recommended Database: Small Business Resource Center

5.   Where can I find marketing and demographics information?

Recommended Database: DemmographicsNow Database

Other Sources: Richard K. Miller Handbooks (PDFs available from the Library Catalog); census.gov

6. Where can I find a SWOT Analysis for a company?

Recommended Databases: Business Source Complete; Business Insights Essentials

7. Where can I find market research reports?

Recommended Databases: Business Source Complete; Business Insights Essentials

8.  Where can I get information on private companies?

Recommended Databases: A-Z Databases

9.  How do I get access to case studies?

The library does not have access to case studies published by business schools. You can find case studies published in journals and magazines by searching for case studies as a Subject in Business Source Complete or Business Insights: Essentials. In addition, Kanopy includes a section on Business Case Studies under the Business category.

10. Who are the competitors for Starbucks?

Recommended Databases: Hoovers' Premium; Business Insights Essentials

11.  What is the GDP for China?

​Other Sources: The World Bank; The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

12.  What is exchange rate for the Euro to the US Dollar?

Other Sources: XE Currency Converter​; Yahoo Finance Currency Converter