In order to be sure your product or service targets the needs of your customers you will need to be familiar with how these people behave. In order to construct convincing sales and revenue forecasts you must understand competing firms.

When doing market research, remember to take time to talk with actual potential customers. Many times the fastest way to get the information you need is simply to ask the people who know. You can contact potential customers, suppliers, and competitors directly through interviews or surveys; this is often the most useful, efficient, and credible method. To identify contacts and industry experts, use online "Yellow Pages" directories (such as ReferenceUSA), the Encyclopedia of Associations, National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States or the Washington Information Directory (both of these books are on reference at the Dewey Library).

• Market Research Reports
• Researching Companies
• Researching Industries
• Patent Research
• Funding Sources
• Boston Area Libraries
• MIT Entrepreneurs Club
• Selected Readings in Entrepreneurship

NOTE: MIT Certificates must be installed on your computer for off-campus access to most of the proprietary database links on this page.

Market Research Reports

MIT has licensing agreements with several market research firms enabling access to many of their reports. These firms include Frost & Sullivan, Gartner Group (full access available in library) , Jupiter Research and others. For a full list of accessible market research firms, visit the Business Database Advisor.

Some research firms, such as Forrester and IDC, make abstracts or excerpts of their reports available for free on their websites. Unfortunately, MIT Libraries usually cannot purchase such reports due to their high cost and limited scope.

For new products and new markets, it is possible that no previously-published market research reports exist. Dewey Library has created a guide to "do-it-yourself" market research using the MIT Libraries resources, tailored to the needs of someone writing a business plan (on a limited budget) without access to off-the-shelf market research.

Researching Companies

There is generally more information available about public companies than there is about private firms. It's a good idea to first determine whether your target company is public or private using either D&B Million Dollar Database or ReferenceUSA, two large directories of US and International companies. Next, consult the Business Database Advisor, a tool for identifying the most commonly-used resources for company financials, news, analysis and forecasts, and other information.

For step-by-step instruction on doing basic company research, visit the Online Workshop: Researching Companies. If you cannot find what you are looking for, or if you need help with your research, you are always welcome to ask for help from a librarian.

Researching Industries

There is generally more information available about larger, more established industries than smaller, emerging ones. If you are researching a niche industry, it is a good idea to speak with a librarian for advice before you delve too deeply into your research.

The Dewey Library Industry Information Subject Guide provides an extensive list of sources for researching industries, including journal and newspaper databases (such as ABI/Inform and LexisNexis), industry reports (from Standard & Poor's, Plunkett Research, and others) and other data sources.

For step-by-step instruction on doing industry research, visit the Online Workshop: Researching Industries, Markets + Products.

Patent Research

Patent documents can be a rich source of competitive and technical information. The science and engineering librarians at MIT have created a Guide to Patents at MIT.

Funding Sources

The Dewey Research Advisor suggests several sources of information on venture capital funding. There are also websites with information on funding, including:

• National Venture Capital Association
• SBIR Grant Information: information about the government agencies funding SBIR grants.
• Venture Capital Resource Library: directory of venture capital firms and tradeshows.

Boston Area Libraries

The MIT Dewey Library (in Building E53) is the MIT library for business-related resources (and related management and the social sciences topics). The Dewey Library offers multiple routes for getting help with your research. For on the spot advice, reference librarians are available at Dewey from 11am - 5pm, Mon - Fri. You can also get advice or answers to research questions via e-mail through the MIT Libraries Ask Us! service. More extended research assistance can be obtained by meeting with a librarian. To arrange a consultation for individuals or teams, fill out a Research Consultation form.

Visit the MIT Libraries website for more information about other MIT library locations and services.

The Boston Public Library's Kirstein Business Branch (20 City Hall Ave., Boston; 523-0860) is another local, comprehensive business library with special resources on Massachusetts and regional businesses and data. The BPL's Central Library (666 Boylston St., Boston; 536-5400) includes an extensive patent depository collection.

MIT is a member of the Boston Library Consortium, which allows MIT students access to many Boston-area research libraries, including Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern, Wellesley, and several others. MIT also has some privileges at some of Harvard's libraries. Before visiting any of our area libraries, please visit the MIT Libraries guide to accessing non-MIT libraries for more details about access and applying for borrowing cards.

MIT Entrepreneurs Club

The MIT Entrepreneurs Club, aka the "E-Club", focuses on developing all aspects of science and technology business creation. The E-Club website contains a wealth of information for entrepreneurs and $100K team members.

Selected Readings in Entrepreneurship

Books:

• Merrill, Ronald E., Raising Money: Venture Funding and How to Get It. AMA, 1990.
  Dewey Library - Stacks | HG4751.M47 1990


• Pearce, Rupert. Raising Venture Capital. Wiley, 2006.
  Dewey Library - Stacks | HG4751.P43 2006


• Roberts, Edward, Entrepreneurs in High Technology: Lessons from M.I.T. and Beyond. Oxford University Press, 1991.
  Dewey Library - Reserve Stacks | HC108.B65.R62 1991


• Timmons, Jeffry A. New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century. McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2004.
  Dewey Library - Reserve Stacks |  CDROM HD62.5.T55 2004
  Dewey Library - Stacks |  HD62.5.T55 2004


• US Small Business Administration. Small Business Start-up Guide (online).

Periodicals:

• Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice: ET&P (available at Dewey and online via Vera)


• Inc. (available at Dewey and online via Business Source Premier)


• Journal of Business Venturing (available at Dewey and online via ScienceDirect)


• MIT Forum Reporter (newsletter of the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge)


• Venture Capital Journal (available at Dewey)