Neil si ll - introduction to business information - feb 2020
•Download as PPTX, PDF•
0 likes•72 views
This document provides an introduction to resources for business information available from the British Library. It outlines workshops, one-on-one advice clinics, and events that provide support and guidance to entrepreneurs. The document also discusses important considerations for starting a business like conducting market research, understanding competitors, protecting business ideas, and the practical aspects of business registration and funding options. Key sources of information at the British Library are highlighted like business databases, reference materials, newspapers and more.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
What's hot
What's hot (18)
Similar to Neil si ll - introduction to business information - feb 2020
Similar to Neil si ll - introduction to business information - feb 2020 (20)
More from Neil Infield
More from Neil Infield (19)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Neil si ll - introduction to business information - feb 2020
- 1. Introduction to Business Information Neil Infield – Manager Business & IP Centre neil.infield@bl.uk http://blogs.bl.uk/business/
- 3. With Luke and Heather… Find out how to set up your business and avoid common start-up pitfalls in seven easy steps Luke Faulkner First Ascent Trainer Business Owner Heather Martin First Ascent Trainer Business Owner
- 4. A bit about you… …and your business idea
- 5. www.bl.uk “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Benjamin Franklin
- 6. www.bl.uk Exercise Describe your business in a tweet i.e. 280 characters – 8 minutes • Why does your organisation exist? • Why was it started in the first place? • How do you intend to make your audience’s life better? • Can you sum it up in one sentence? Timer
- 7. Photos for everyone Over 1 million free high-resolution images brought to you by the world’s most generous community of photographers. Unsplash was born from the pain we had in finding great, usable imagery. And we weren’t alone. Which is why, today—millions of creators from around the world have downloaded over 1 billion Unsplash images to create presentations, artwork, mockups, and more. Is it really free? Yes.
- 9. Cult London 3 piece. The Tiger Lillies play a twisted fusion of pre-war Berlin cabaret and avant garde music hall in deranged anarchic gypsy style.
- 10. Where do business ideas come from? • A problem in search of a solution or • A solution in search of a problem "As a startup, figure out the problem you are addressing, and the users. Fall in love with the problem not the solution, and the rest will follow.“ Waze cofounder Uri Levine
- 11. The Apple Newton personal organiser was so ahead of its time… …no one bought it
- 12. The tin can was invented around 1810… © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
- 13. But the opener not until 1855 – 45 years later
- 14. And another 65 years until the ‘modern’ opener
- 15. And in 1959 we finally had today’s answer – the pop top can
- 16. Why does you company need to exist? To make sports cars or utility vehicles? What does your heart tell you?
- 19. What is Lean Startup? ‘Start-up success is not a consequence of good genes or being in the right place at the right time. Success can be engineered by following the right process. Which means it can be learned. Which means it can be taught.’ Eric Ries author, The Lean Startup
- 20. STARTUP = AN EXPERIMENT
- 21. Lean Startup: requires learning as you go •Test your assumptions and ideas from the earliest stage •Collect evidence based on customer behavior – not opinions •Adapt and develop an idea quickly •Make every £ and the time you spend count •View every lesson learned as valuable
- 24. Sound familiar? • I know I am right •I am a winner, my energy will take me through •I don’t need to talk to anybody else •I don’t need to learn from customers, they need to learn from me
- 25. Lean Startup results •Develop a product/service with features that customers actually value = GO! Or •Identify a lack of demand, before time and money is wasted, and learn from it = NO GO!
- 26. The Business Model Canvas approach to planning your business
- 27. www.bl.uk Developing your Value Proposition Canvas www.b2binternational.com
- 31. Or the traditional Business Plan approach
- 32. www.bl.uk 32 The British Library is for anyone who wants to do research - academic, personal or commercial
- 34. How we can help you at the British Library • Information – paper and online • Workshops and Webinars • One to One Advice Clinics • Inspiring Entrepreneurs Events
- 35. Paper Information • 14 million books • Hundreds of journals • Thousands of reports • Hundreds of start-up books
- 36. Online Databases • 30+ Business • Business & Management Portal • 10,000+ across the Library
- 37. WorkshopsWorkshops • 35+ a month • For start-ups • And existing businesses • Awide range of topics
- 38. One to One Advice Clinics • Book an hour session with one of the team for free • Or with an external specialist - £20 and £35
- 39. [ Insert latest upcoming event here] Inspiring Entrepreneurs Events • Evening events with successful business people • Stelios,Alan Sugar, Levi Roots and many more • Q&Aand networking opportunities
- 41. What are the practical aspects of starting up? What is the demand for my product or service? Who are my competitors? How do I keep up to date? How do I protect my business idea?
- 42. How do I register my business? What options do I have for funding? What are the regulations I need to be aware of? Where can I find help and advice? How do I hire staff? How do I write a business plan?
- 43. Start-Up Books
- 44. Cobra Database • An encyclopaedia of business start-up • Hundreds of business suggestions • From Dog Walker to Management Consultant
- 53. Market Research
- 54. “My mum / dad / family / friends think it’s a good idea.”
- 55. Why Market Research •What is the demand for your product or service •Research your customers and their attitudes •Find out about your competitors and their market share •Know about your market sector now •And the future trends and forecasts
- 56. Retail and Leisure Trends 2018 The evolution of our retail landscape http://blog.localdatacompany.com/infographic-retail-and-leisure-trends-2017/18-the-evolution-of-our-retail-landscape
- 57. Is your market growing? Global ??? capacity
- 58. Is your market growing? Global Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity
- 60. Or shrinking? Total number of ??? in the UK 1982 to 2016 45000 50000 55000 60000 65000 70000 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
- 61. Or shrinking? Total number of pubs in the UK 1982 to 2016 45000 50000 55000 60000 65000 70000 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 https://beerandpub.com/statistics/pub-numbers/
- 62. Retail and Leisure Trends 2018 The evolution of our retail landscape http://blog.localdatacompany.com/infographic-retail-and-leisure-trends-2017/18-the-evolution-of-our-retail-landscape
- 65. Wetherspoon's was founded by Tim Martin in 1979. He took the surname from a teacher at school who had told him he would never amount to anything. J.D. Wetherspoon
- 66. Market Research = Desk Research and Field Research
- 67. Field Research
- 68. Field Research
- 69. Field Research the Innocent way… Don’t give up the day job… or… Go for it!
- 72. It is all too easy to ask the wrong questions… And get the wrong answers
- 73. Field Research Tip Think about how you word your questions
- 75. X
- 77.
- 79. X
- 81.
- 82. Desk Research Is there a demand for your product or service?
- 83. Find out about your: • Customers • Competition • Market • Trends/ forecasts
- 84. Desk Research Tip How reliable is the source? • Is it fact or opinion? • From whose perspective was it written? Is it biased? • When was it published?
- 85. 85 This is where you do your Desk Research
- 87. Desk Research Tip Reports tend to be general and countrywide so Look at the broader market and think laterally
- 92. =
- 94. Business failure quiz – top 10 reasons
- 95. Business failure quiz – top 10 reasons 1. Lack of cash 2. No plan 3. Starting for the Wrong Reason 4. Poor Management and Leadership 5. Expanding Too Quickly 6. Failure to Advertise and Market 7. Lack of Differentiation 8. Unwillingness to Delegate 9. Unprofitable Business Model 10. Underestimating the Competition
- 98. Why Research Companies? InvestigativeCompetitors B2B Mailing ListsSourcing Products
- 105. Companies can be exempt from filing a profit and loss account if: • They have fewer than 50 employees. • Turnover is less than £6.5m. • They have assets of less than £3.26m.
- 106. Sole Traders • Are not obliged to file financial information. • And are not required to register with Companies House
- 107. Trade Directories • Often have unique information • Cover a wide range of industries • Thousands on our shelves
- 108. www.bl.uk If you don’t innovate…
- 109. www.bl.uk If you don’t innovate… others will.
- 110. Innovation is the key to survival – unless your product is iconic…
- 111. Innovation is the key to survival – unless your product is iconic – but even then…
- 112. www.bl.uk Innovation is the key to survival – unless your product is iconic – but even then…
- 113. Keeping up to date
- 114. Newpapers, Magazines and Social Media • Bring you up to date • Cover niche areas E.G. BicycleBusiness • Immerse you into your subject area • Annual Surveys and Questionnaires
- 115. Newpapers, Magazines and Social Media • Search online • Factiva has 10,000 newspapers and magazines in full text • EBSCO has 11,000 academic and trade journals
- 116. Protecting your idea
- 117. Intellectual Property • Patents • Trade Marks • Registered Designs • Copyright • Know How and Trade Secrets
- 118. It’s a lot of information to take in…
- 119. Where do I start
- 120. Industry Guides • Cover 25 topics • Available at the Centre and on our website • A great introduction to information available • They are all free!
- 122. Ask for help • Libraries can be complicated places to navigate • And so is business start-up • So please ask us for help
Editor's Notes
- 3 hour workshop with 15 minute break Fire alarms Toilets
- That's quite an ominous statement upon first read. And to be fair, that's not to say that businesses cannot become successful by finding their way through trail and error. They can. But by doing your research, you can shorten your learning curve and save time, trouble, customers and money. If you are starting, it can give you an indication on whether your idea has a good chance of becoming a successful business If you are up and running, it can help you to grow faster, and better equip you to adapt to any changes that may affect you sector.
- We are big fans of the Lean approach to start-up in the Business & IP Centre. Especially the core idea that you need to test our your assumptions as early and cheaply as possible. And be prepared to change the nature of the business based on feedback.
- Peter Durand was granted a patent (No: 3372) by the British King, George III on August 25, 1810. But he had taken the idea from Philippe de Girard in France.
- First, lever-type can openers Dedicated can openers appeared in the 1850s and were of a primitive claw-shaped or "lever-type" design. In 1855, Robert Yeates, a cutlery and surgical instrument maker of Trafalgar Place West, Hackney Road, Middlesex, UK, devised the first claw-ended can opener with a hand-operated tool that haggled its way around the top of metal cans.[5]
- “The classic toothed-wheel crank design” that we know and use today came around in the 1920s, writes Rogers. That invention, by Charles Arthur Bunker, remains the can opener standard to this day.
- In 1959, Ermal Fraze invented the pop-top can (or easy-open can) in Kettering, Ohio.
- Rivian spent 2.5 years developing a sports car, but realised that wasn’t what the world needed.
- Rivian spent 2.5 years developing a sports car, but realised that wasn’t what the world needed.
- A method for developing successful products and services A set of tools that can be adapted to meet individual preferences and situations Applicable to any sector
- Many who follow the Lean approach use the freely available Business Model Canvas to help plan their business.
- You can find out more about the lean start up approach in our free one hour webinar that runs monthly
- You can find out more about the lean start up approach in our free one hour webinar that runs monthly
- You can find out more about the lean start up approach in our free one hour webinar that runs monthly
- The information that comes from the BMC could then be used when filling out a business plan which you may need if you wanted to get funding for example
- There is a myth that the British Library is still the library of last resort and just for academics and authors. Please help spread the word that we are here for everyone.
- This is optional and can be edited
- A quick overview of our services
- Update photo
- There too many workshops to mention so do check out the website - Some are free, others are charged - generally the ones by our external partners - but you will have all of that information on the website. And most of the workshops run monthly... so don't worry if you can't make that initial date.
- Advice sessions: Again delivered by the BIPC team and our partners, depending on what you need or how advanced you are with your business. The sessions with the BIPC team are for those in the early idea stage so you may find speaking to one of our external partners more suitable for your needs. both options are available on our website.
- We host speed mentoring events - like speed dating, except the person on the other side of the table is there to give you business advice not butterflies. And there are also talks and seminars From established entrepreneurs giving you an opportunity to hear from them, how they got to where they are and some of the pitfalls they faced along the way. It also gives you an opportunity to ask them questions as well as network with like minded people. Past guests have included sir alan sugar, members of dragons den, stelios, and levi roots to name a few.
- The practical aspects of starting up: How do you register your business and what are the options that I have? What regulations so I need to be aware of? If you are going to need help with your business, what do you need to know when hiring staff? Funding - where can I get help financially?
- How-to books, One of the first things people will look to – and justly so – for information on starting a business. They cover the different aspects of starting a business and are put together by people with either expertise or first hand experience in the field as well as books dedicated to a particular industry again put together by people with expertise in that field. These can be found in book shops – online markets such as amazon and local libraries. Here in the Idea Store you will find a selection of how to books in their business zone collection. We have a growing collection in our reading room under our small business help banner. That's first set of shelves you see upon entering the reading room.
- Cobra - which is like a business encyclopaedia; containing fact sheets on the different practical aspects of starting a business as well as industry specific factsheets. So if you want a guide on writing a business plan, want to know the different legal statuses you can register your business as - as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each or if you want to factsheet on what you need to know when starting a coffee shop including typical costs, then we would point you towards this database.
- There can be some confusion with regards to conducting market research. We have people come in so convinced and invested in their idea that they just want to get started. and when asked have they looked into how viable this business idea is they reply they're confident because...
- Their family or friends told them it was a good idea. Sometimes it "I've spoken to 7 or 8 people and they thought it was a good idea that they would buy. I'm sure you can see the danger with having a "build it and they will come" mentality. There could be a number of factors such as these that mum and dad may not have taken into account. Things like this affect whether something is successful or not.
- So you have 2 types of market research: Desk research - where you get information from secondary sources. Research companies that gather information on various industries and compile them into a report. Ideally you would do a combination of the two - desk research to get an overall picture of the industry and field research to get information from the people you hope will be buying from you Field research - where you get information directly from your target consumer relating to your specific product or service.
- Is Everyone familiar with Innocent Smoothies? It's a fairly well known story about how the founders got started. So before innocent, the founders were already in fairly well paid jobs but they had an idea to start a smoothie business. what they wanted to know before they went ahead whether it was worth risking giving up their already secure jobs to pursue this venture. It happens quite a lot actually, we've had people coming in from the financial sector, lawyers, people in already well paying jobs saying that they're pursuing their business idea as its something that they would enjoy doing. Of course the key thing is you want to be sure that you can at least make a living from it. So the guys from innocent went to test their product by taking it to an event - music event I think - and asked everyone that bought their smoothie to put their empty bottle into one of two bins. The question above the bins read: should we give up our day jobs and pursue this smoothie business, one bin said no and one said yes. Now by the end of the event the yes bin was overflowing with two in the no bin; and so they used that as a starting point and began their long journey which has resulted in their product being in petty much every supermarket in the UK. Of course there is a little unresovled question: who was mean enough to say no? Anyone? Is anyone familiar with their product? Doing quite well selling (.....) and branching out to fruit juices and coconut water now As for the 3 bottles that were put in the "no" bin, apparently 2 of those were from.... (next slide) note - £500 spent on fruit
- So, an example of field research: Is Everyone familiar with Innocent Smoothies? It's a fairly well known story about how the founders got started. So before innocent, the founders were already in fairly well paid jobs but they had an idea to start a smoothie business. what they wanted to know before they went ahead whether it was worth risking giving up their already secure jobs to pursue this venture. It happens quite a lot actually, we've had people coming in from the financial sector, lawyers, people in already well paying jobs saying that they're pursuing their business idea as its something that they would enjoy doing. Of course the key thing is you want to be sure that you can at least make a living from it. So the guys from innocent went to test their product by taking it to an event - music event I think - and asked everyone that bought their smoothie to put their empty bottle into one of two bins. The question above the bins read: should we give up our day jobs and pursue this smoothie business, one bin said no and one said yes. Now by the end of the event the yes bin was overflowing with three in the no bin; and so they used that as a starting point and began their long journey which has resulted in their product being in petty much every supermarket in the UK. Of course there is a little unresolved question: who was mean enough to say no? Anyone? Is anyone familiar with their product? Doing quite well selling (.....) and branching out to fruit juices and coconut water now As for the 3 bottles that were put in the "no" bin, apparently 2 of those were from.... (next slide) note - £500 spent on fruit
- This workshop is fully-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the British Library, as part of “Innovating for Growth (I4G) Start-ups” Programme that includes a series of workshops and an advice clinic, designed to support people who have just started or want to start a business. All sessions of the programme are free and include: “Get Started” workshop: delivered by external partner (6 hours); practicalities of starting a business (registration, legal and tax obligations), essentials of a good business plan, knowing your customers and competitors, financials. “Introduction to Business and IP Centre” workshop: delivered by BL staff (2 hours + 1hour networking); BIPC services and resources. “Introduction to Intellectual Property” workshop: delivered by BL staff (2 hours + 1 hour networking); what is IP, types of IP and how to protect it. One-to-one information clinic: delivered by BL staff (1 hour) It is advisable to attend all sessions to fully benefit by the programme.
- This workshop is fully-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the British Library, as part of “Innovating for Growth (I4G) Start-ups” Programme that includes a series of workshops and an advice clinic, designed to support people who have just started or want to start a business. All sessions of the programme are free and include: “Get Started” workshop: delivered by external partner (6 hours); practicalities of starting a business (registration, legal and tax obligations), essentials of a good business plan, knowing your customers and competitors, financials. “Introduction to Business and IP Centre” workshop: delivered by BL staff (2 hours + 1hour networking); BIPC services and resources. “Introduction to Intellectual Property” workshop: delivered by BL staff (2 hours + 1 hour networking); what is IP, types of IP and how to protect it. One-to-one information clinic: delivered by BL staff (1 hour) It is advisable to attend all sessions to fully benefit by the programme.
- You want to think about how you word your questions. The way you word it can make the difference between having an accurate answer that you can use and one that's not. Our workshop How to Explore Your Market covers this topic in more detail.
- Is this example a good question to ask? No The reason for that is it won't be accurate. It's said people will tend to be more positive with questions like this: yes I'd be happy to buy this, yes I'd be very interested in a product like this. which is great for self esteem however when you open your doors and start trading, you might find a lot of those people not buying it. The problem with that question is that it's asking for an answer with a future action.
- Is this example a good question to ask? No The reason for that is it won't be accurate. It's said people will tend to be more positive with questions like this: yes I'd be happy to buy this, yes I'd be very interested in a product like this. which is great for self esteem however when you open your doors and start trading, you might find a lot of those people not buying it. The problem with that question is that it's asking for an answer with a future action.
- This however is more accurate as it asks for a past action. it asks for something that they have already done. So they can tell you what they are currently doing to solve this problem whether they are happy with it and why. If they're not happy with it and you can see that your idea addresses the issue that they are not happy about. That's an indicator that you can use. Alternatively if they're perfectly happy with what is currently out there, again that's an indicator because then you would need to think about why they would buy from you? It's better to think about that now before you invest alot of time, energy and money than after.
- This however is more accurate as it asks for a past action. it asks for something that they have already done. So they can tell you what they are currently doing to solve this problem whether they are happy with it and why. If they're not happy with it and you can see that your idea addresses the issue that they are not happy about. That's an indicator that you can use. Alternatively if they're perfectly happy with what is currently out there, again that's an indicator because then you would need to think about why they would buy from you? It's better to think about that now before you invest alot of time, energy and money than after.
- So this should be easier: is this a good question to ask? No. Again future action and it won't be accurate because you would get a whole load of numbers from £500 to 5p.
- So this should be easier: is this a good question to ask? No. Again future action and it won't be accurate because you would get a whole load of numbers from £500 to 5p.
- Asking them how much they have spent on solving their problem gives you more accurate information. It will help you with your price point. Can you price your offering the same or, even better, cheaper. If not, are you offering that much more that people would be happy to pay a little more
- Asking them how much they have spent on solving their problem gives you more accurate information. It will help you with your price point. Can you price your offering the same or, even better, cheaper. If not, are you offering that much more that people would be happy to pay a little more
- You also have desk research Which is getting information from secondary resources to establish a demand for your idea.
- It looks at your customers: Who are they? Where are they? where do they shop? how much do they spend? what are their attitudes to whats out there. It looks at your competition: Who are they? how many of them are there? how are they performing? It looks at the market: How big is it? is it growing or is it in decline? and what are the trends or forecast that could have an affect on that industry.
- If you find some information from a Google search can you rely on it? Is it fact or opinion? Is it backed up by any proof or data. Is the information biased? is it written to push the writers agenda or to sell you something I mean fake news is quite the talking point now so you should be doing it with all information but especially market research And is the source too old to be relevent? The one thing to keep in mind is because of the time it takes to research an industry and compile a report, at best these reports will be updated annually so it's advisable to supplement them with news and journals who will have more regular coverage.That been said, looking at a report that's from 1999 probably won't help you much.
- You are not going to find an individual report for every niche. Reports will tend to be general but will often have information on the niches that are having an affect on that particular industry. If you can't find anything, broaden your search as you may find relevant information that way. Also it helps to think outside the box. and the founder of this product right here is a good example. The founder of Pomegrate, he came up with the idea after coming across pomegranates on his travels. So he came into the library, before my time, and said I hear you have a collection of market research reports - I'm looking for a report on the pomegranate juice industry in the UK. I should add this was at the time when most people had not even heard of a pomegranate So you can imagine no report. Undeterred he decided to broaden his search.
- Now let’s put yourselves in his shoes - if there isn't a report on pomegranate juice, what industry could he look at that could help. What industry would pomegranate juice fall into?
- Fruit juice - people may not have heard of pomegranate juice but they sure would have heard about orange juice and apple juice. So he looked at that report and found that the juice industry was doing well. Cranberry in particular was making profits of £14 million that year and was known for it's anti oxidant benefits so he thought how would pomegranates compare... and here's where thinking outside of the box came in.
- He used the science reading room to research the health benefits of pomegranates, to which he found that they had more anti oxidant benefits than cranberries. He was on to something so he then looked at an industry that would be interested in those benefits
- The healthy lifestyle industry. And so he used information from various sources to identify a potential demand for this product.
- Lesson of this story: broaden your search, and try and think outside of the box if you can't find a report for your specific idea.
- Now there's a workshop that goes into this more called how do I research a business idea? Three hour workshop that also talks about a useful tool called a business model canvas which is a not only a great visual personal plan for your business, it's also the information that would then put into a business plan. Any questions before we move on?
- 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months, according to Bloomberg.
- 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months, according to Bloomberg.
- Now part of your market research may involve looking into how many competitors you have and how they are performing; however you may also want to look into companies for other reasons. So we're now going to look at how you can find information on companies.
- So as well as looking at the competition, you could be looking into suppliers or manufacturers that can help you to make your idea a reality you may wish to create a contact list. Speaking of contact list, what if your potential customers are other businesses as opposed to the public? you may want to create a contact list of potential customers. Or you wish to look into a company that you wish to collaborate with to make sure they are who they say they are. Companies may talk themselves up in a bid to do business but actually are in trouble financially - that could hurt you if you sign a contract with them and they suddenly go under - so you may want to investigate beforehand. Like Jamie’s restaurants which unfortunately did recently. I found an article which gave an idea of how suppliers were affected.
- Those are reasons you may wish to look into company information but where can you find them? If you are looking for companies in the UK then you could start with companies house. Their page can be found on the government website: Gov.uk
- Here you can find information that companies who register with companies house are required to give such as CEO financial information. In this case I searched for Tesco
- there are also various company information publishers that can be found in business libraries These publishers will have information on UK companies, international companies and even a database of global manufacturers and suppliers. So what can you do here that you can't do at home? Let's take a look.
- So with companies house I previously looked up Tesco and got their filing information. but what if you didn't want to just look at Tesco, you wanted information on supermarkets in the UK? You can do that on a database called Fame. You set the criteria - in my case I just searched for Supermarkets, but you can also narrow it down to location - right down to postcodes or size if you are looking for a particular size of company. As you can see my basic search pulled up quite a few supermarkets in the UK
- What if you didn't just want information on the UK? You wanted to look at supermarkets around the world? For that you have Orbis. Looks similar to Fame but you can see the country codes here and the much bigger result here.
- You can also find individual reports on companies.
- Now there are some limitations to the information you can find in any of these resources particularly if you are looking at small companies as they can be exempt from filing financial information. At best you will find contact details and the name of the director and that's it.
- Now there are some limitations to the information you can find in any of these resources particularly if you are looking at small companies as they can be exempt from filing financial information. At best you will find contact details and the name of the director and that's it.
- It may also be worth having a look at trade directories or if you want an idea of how many competitors are in a particular area then search on Google may help – like you would do if you were searching for restaurants in a particular area.
- In short: if you don’t continue to innovate…
- …Others will Netflix is a good example: starting as an online dvd rental business to an online streaming business and more recently a tv and movie producer. By contrast HMV were warned of the threat of online streaming and downloading to which the CEO at the time angrily rejected the report stating that consumers will always want the experience of a record store – they went into administration twice. I mentioned high streets shops having a hard time adapting their established business models to cater to consumers changing buying habits. Change isn't a bad thing if you see it coming and react first. So how do you keep up to date?
- Even if a product is iconic
- You have to adapt
- I mentioned how businesses may need to adapt to changes in the business environment. Petrol cars paying more in tax than electric for example. Fortunately it’s not difficult to keep up to date.
- Most market research reports are updated annually, so that means their information can be over a year out of date when you are reading it. How do you bring yourself up to date with recent developments in your subject area?
- This can be found in newspapers, magazines, specialist blogs. Don't forget to check the reliability of the source. Look in Willings or Benns Press guides for titles. We will have quite a few trade journals and magazines on the shelf and in the library as a whole. and you can see what we have in our catalogue.
- Don’t forget Google, although it has a much less powerful search engine and not many publications in full text.
- Finally let's look a little bit into how you can protect aspects of your business idea using intellectual property. You can find out much more in our How do I protect my business idea workshop.
- So that's the different types of business information to take in and digest - especially if you are completely new to business So the question is where should you start? what's the next step when you leave this room today?
- Have some samples: We have industry guides for over 25 sectors and they are all available on the shelves just outside the door where security is as well as in the networking area. so have a look before you leave and help yourself, they're free.
- Or come and speak to us. There's always a member of the Business & IP team on hand in the reading room; and we're more than happy to help Whether it be identifying resources or even navigating through the resources to find the information that you want. We're here to help.
- This is optional and can be edited