ENTR 2P91: Resources for Feasibility Study Research

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ENTR 2P91 Resources for Feasibility Study
Research

• Linda Lowry (BCom MLS MA)
• Business Librarian
• James A. Gibson Library
• Brock University

Spring 2008
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Todays Agenda

• Researching to prepare your feasibility study
• Industries
• Markets
• Financials
• Production/Operational/Organizational/Legal
• Citing Your Sources
• Getting help in the Library

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What is your business concept?

• Jot down your Elevator Pitch
• Circle or highlight a few keywords or phrases
  that describe your business idea.
• These will be useful as you move through your
  research tasks.

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Phases of Feasibility Analysis

• Product/Service Feasibility Analysis
• Concept usability testing, marketability,
  target customer profile, product/service
  usefulness, intellectual property, first mover
  advantages
• Industry/Market Feasibility Analysis
• Industry attractiveness, market timeliness,
  identification of a niche market
• Organizational Feasibility Analysis
• Management prowess, future HR needs, resource
  sufficiency, location
• Financial Feasibility Analysis
• Pro Forma financial statements, Financial ratios,
  capital requirements

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Part A Researching companies and industries
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UnderstandingNAICS Canada 2007

• NAICS was created by statistical agencies of
  Canada, US Mexico
• It uses a hierarchical structure to divide the
  economy into sectors, subsectors, and industries
• A NAICS code is up to 6 digits long

http//www.statcan.ca/english/concepts/industry.ht
m
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Anatomy of a NAICS Code

• 45 Retail Trade (Sector)
• 453 Miscellaneous Store Retailers (Subsector)
• 4539 Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers
  (Industry Group)
• 45391 Pet and Pet Supplies Stores (Industry)
• 453910 Pet and Pet Supplies Stores (National
  Industry)

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You may browse or search for NAICS Codes on
Statistics Canadas web site
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Part B Researching Markets
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Using the Market Share Reporter

• Where is it? 6th floor Reference Call No REF HF
  5410 M2
• Compiles annual market share data on companies,
  products and services around the world
• Each entry cites source of original report (e.g.
  article or website)
• Important to look at several volumes (e.g. 2007,
  2006, 2005) for relevant data

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Using FP Markets Canadian Demographics

• Where is it? 6th floor Reference. Call No REF
  HC 111 F5 2007
• Population Income Estimates
• Demographics by Province and Census Metropolitan
  Area (CMA)
• Features psychographic profiles by CMA

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FP Markets Canadian Demographics Sample PSYTE
Categories
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Part C Researching Financials

• Benchmark your financial data by type of
  business, size of business, and line of business
  (NAICS)
• Try the Performance Plus benchmarking tool (based
  on Canadian tax return data)
• http//sme.ic.gc.ca
• Look at Financial Performance Indicators for
  Canadian Business (Statistics Canada)
• On the Librarys Multimedia Workstation
• Located on the 6th floor of the Library

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Part D Researching production/operations/legal
issues
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Additional Sources of Assistance

• Please consult Research a Topic in... On the
  Library web site http//www.library.brocku.ca
• Business
• Entrepreneurship
• Legal Information
• Marketing
• Statistics

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Citing Your Sources

• Why do you need to cite your sources?
• When paraphrasing ideas
• When using direct quotations
• To acknowledge sources of facts
• To avoid allegations of plagiarism or academic
  misconduct

• A popular citation style guide is

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APA Style Guides

• Publication Manual of The American Psychological
  Association, 5th Edition
• Call No REF or RESERVE BF 76.7 P82 2001
• APA Style, Selected Examples from the APA Manual,
  5th Edition (University of South Dakota)
• http//www.usd.edu/library/instruction/apa5.pdf
• How to Cite Business Sources in APA (McGill
  University)
• http//www.mcgill.ca/howardross/collections/links/
  reference/cite/

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Off-Campus Access to Databases New method
effective May 20th
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Getting Help in the Library

• Please ask for assistance at the Librarys
  Research Help Desk (on the 6th floor)
• In Person or by Telephone at 905-688-5550 Ext.
  3233
• By LiveHelp Chat (11-5 M-F)
• You may also schedule a research consultation
  with me (by appointment only)
• Email Linda.Lowry_at_Brocku.ca
• Tel [phone] ext. 4650
• Please note I will be away May 26-30th June
  13-20th and June 30th -July 4th