This document provides information and resources for engineer entrepreneurs to estimate market size, understand potential customers, gather competitive intelligence, survey potential customers, analyze competitors, and get help from the business and engineering librarians. It outlines data sources like Census data, surveys, market reports, trade associations, analytics tools, news databases, and directories to research demographics, lifestyles, industries and companies. Methods for surveying customers and analyzing competitors are also presented. Contact information for the librarians is provided.

1. Engineer Entrepreneurship EGEN 3100-001
Linda Hauck
Business Librarian
Linda.Hauck@villanov.edu
Alfred Fry
Engineering Librarian
Alfred.Fry@villanova.edu

2. Estimating Market Size
Number of Potential Buyers X Number of
Units Purchased in Period X Sale Price

3. Who are your buyers?
Intelligence on
Imagine Your Customers Competitors Customers

4. Imagine Your Customers
Demographic Characteristics Lifestyle Characteristics
American Factfinder- MRI Internet Reporter
Census population and
surveys of businesses Statistical Datasets
BizMiner U.S. business SRDS Local Market
Audience
Statistical Insights/Index to
statistics and data by ESRI Tapestry (Business
state, federal, Analyst coming…)
international, associations

5. Competitive Intelligence
Sources
1. National Consumer Surveys
1. MRI
2. Simmons via SRDS
2. Market Research Reports
1. Mintel
2. Frost & Sullivan
3. IBIS World
4. ReferenceUSA Onesource
3. Trade & Professional Associations
1. Encyclopedia of Associations
4. Analytics
1. SocialBaker
2. Quantcast
5. News
1. ABI/Inform
2. Article databases by topic

6. Survey Potential Customers
Tools: Surveymonkey, Zoomerang
How to ask it: Questionnaire Design
Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods
Finding participants: ReferenceUSA

7. Competitor Analysis
1. Who’s marketing similar/substitute products? Global
New Product Development for consumer goods…or
Market Research reports…or Googling
2. Trademark owner search
http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/index.jsp
3. Get a Company Profile via Hoovers, Datamonitor,
Lexis-Nexis Company Dossier, ReferenceUSA
4. Search trade news via ABI/Inform, Business Source
Premier, Google News
5. Search bios of principles

8. How to Get Help
• Linda Hauck
• Linda.hauck@villanova.edu
• 610-519-8744 (office)
• Alfred Fry
• Alfred.fry@villanova.edu
• 484-685-6758 (cell), 610-519-4283 (office)