Small Business Tools - Researching a New Small Business

When researching a new business idea or thinking about starting a new small business, how do most people go about researching the potential of a new small business idea? It would be great to come up with a list of small business tools related to researching business ideas for different industries. Things like size of market, income potential, start-up costs, licensing and permits, etc. I commonly use www.business.gov to find general statistic about the small business climate in the US, but I'm wondering if there are more specific market research tools available for potential small business owners... Please post your thoughts and maybe we can compile a list by industry segment...

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Peer Comments

Nothing like asking

Best way to get immediate information about a market segment in your area, is simply ask. Ask a lot of questions, think about what you want to find out. Say, "If I can do this [ ], will you consider this [ ]?" more of these types of questions, put your ideas into what would benefit a company, and then ask, ask ask!

Don't sell nothing at first, just try to keep an open mind about what the segment is telling you about the type of service and/or product you eventually want to offer. Keep lists of all the information and most definitely who, what and when was said.

Hope this helps

John Sherman MBA

Nashville, TN

JOHN SHERMAN - Add to my Personal PeerSphere - 10 months ago

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for internet businesses, this is tops...

Bebiz is a small business building software that takes you through the market research, finding a product, building your website, and even getting it started.

Check out bebiz.com for more details

Best,

Justin

MR_SURPLUS_INVENTORIES from Hattiesburg, MS - Add to my Personal PeerSphere - 9 months ago

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