Online Research and Resources for Small Businesses

1. Online Research and Resources for Small Businesses Deborah Bliemel Small Business Enterprise Centre www.hamiltonsmallbusiness.ca

2. Agenda • Introduction • Tools • Resources • Conclusion

3. Introduction • Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. - Dr. Samuel Johnson, 18 Apr. 1775

4. Introduction • Doing research online can be frustrating unless you learn to use the Internet effectively • Minimum effort with maximum returns • Learn short-cuts • Learn to be more efficient with your search techniques • Use the tools available instead of always recreating the wheel

5. Introduction • Warnings: • Information online is only as good as the reliability of the source • Be prepared to pay for information • The information you are looking for simply may not be available, online or otherwise

6. Kinds of Research Tools • Search engines • Google, AltaVista, Metacrawler, eXcite • Newsgroups • Industry profiles • Demographic profiles • Model business documents • Templates • Checklists

7. Tools – Conduct a Search • Clearly define your research topic • Identify critical concepts or main ideas • Identify additional subject headings or synonyms • Write a search statement or query on paper if necessary

8. Tools – Conduct a Search • Use keywords • What, why, when, who & where • Focus on nouns and objects • Synonyms • Use “exact phrases”

9. Tools – Search Engines • Basic Boolean Operators • AND – narrows or focuses a search (i.e. football AND Brazil) • OR – broadens a search (i.e. Internet OR Web) • NOT – excludes keyword from a search (i.e. Ocean NOT Atlantic)

10. Tools – Search Engines

11. Tools – Search Engines

12. Tools – Search Engines • Advanced Techniques • NEAR – geographic proximity (i.e. earthquake NEAR Seattle) • ADJ# - for adjectives (i.e. sunny ADJ# beach) • WITHIN – distance between words within sentence (i.e. network and security WITHIN 1) • NESTING – tells search engine to prioritize (i.e. (juice AND grape) OR wine)

13. Tools – Search Engines • Search Tips • Use the appropriate number of keywords • Put main concept first • Try alternate spellings • Don’t forget synonyms • Capitalize names and titles

14. Tools – Industry Profiles • Canadian Industry Statistics - Industry overviews and growth trends for selected Canadian resource, manufacturing, service, and wholesale/retail industries http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/sc_ecnmy/sio/homepage.html • Statistics Canada Publications – Occasionally has papers which include industry profiles http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/downpub/freepub.cgi

15. Tools – Demographic Profiles • Hamilton SBEC – local demographics available by municipality based on the 1996 census resultswww.hamiltonsmallbusiness.ca/demog.html • Statistics Canada – community profiles for 1996 and partial for 2001 www12.statcan.ca/english/Profil01/PlaceSearchForm1.cfm

16. Tools – My Favourites • Interactive Business Planner – free online business planning software www.cbsc.org/ibp • Business Start-Up Assistant – very good for answers to government related business questions http://bsa.cbsc.org • Microsoft Office – online downloadable templates for every conceivable business purpose http://office.microsoft.com/ • Canada 411 – find phone numbers and addresses www.canada411.com

17. Resources • Your sources should vary in origin • Try to use at least three different sources to validate the information you find • Always search for Canadian resources first – American business practices can differ significantly from ours

18. Public Resources • Libraries • College, University and Public • Government • Local, Provincial, Federal • Chambers of Commerce • Local, Provincial, Federal

19. Commercial Resources • Online Databases • Company Websites • Trade & Industry Associations • Information Portals www.about.com , www.brint.com , www.entrepreneur.com , www.yahoo.com • Private Research Companies • GD Sourcing, Ipsos-Reid, InfoCanada

20. Mohawk Resources • Mohawk’s Virtual Library has some excellent resources available for student use online: • E-Stat (Statistics Canada) database • Business Source Elite database • Financial Post Corporate Reports

21. Mohawk Resources Additionally, the Mohawk Virtual Library has an comprehensive collection of reference links.

22. Public Library Resources • Hamilton Public Library has a diverse collection of business links under: • Main page (www.hpl.hamilton.on.ca) • Internet Links • Business & Consumer Information

23. Federal Government Resources www.gc.ca • Industry Canada - www.ic.gc.ca • On-line services and tools • Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) • Canadian Tourism Commission • National Research Council • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada • Standards Council of Canada • Canadian Intellectual Property Office www.cipo.gc.ca

24. Federal Government Resources • Strategis - www.strategis.gc.ca • Research trade and investment data by product or industry • Benchmarking tools • Growth management tools • E-commerce tutorials • Company directories • Business legislation, regulation, and standards

25. Federal Government Resources • Statistics Canada - www.statcan.gc.ca • THE Canadian source for social and economic statistics • Community profiles • Downloadable publications • Research papers • Customized market research (fee based) • “The Daily” newsletter gives information on newly released data

26. Federal Government Resources • Canada Customs and Revenue Agency - www.ccra-adrc.gc.ca • Online information and tools for business tax issues • Business Number (BN) for GST, import/export, corporate tax and payroll

27. Federal Government Resources • Canada-Ontario Business Centres - www.cbsc.org/ontario/ • General business information on topics: • Guide to ISO 9000 • Importing Info-Guide • Youth Programs • Business Start-Up Guide • Employment Regulations • Aboriginal Programs • Ontario Fact Sheets

28. Federal Government Resources • HRDC – www.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca • Listing of occupational profiles • Learning and training opportunities • Local labour market reports www.on.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/hamilton/english/lmi/reports/index.html • Information on subsidies and other financial assistance for small business

29. Federal Government Resources • Business Gateway - www.businessgateway.ca • Government portal for small business resources • Links to tools like: • Federal patent database • Financial ratio calculators • Export planners • SME service charge calculators • Tariff calculator • Virtual trade commissioner

30. Provincial Government Resources • Provincial – www.gov.on.ca • Ministry of Enterprise, Opportunity and Innovation • www.ontariocanada.com • Ontario Business Connects • www.cbs.gov.on.ca/obc • Ministry of Consumer and Business Relations • www.cbs.gov.on.ca • Starting a Small Business in Ontario • www.2.ontario-canada.com/English/business/StartBiz/intro.htm

31. Local Government Resources • Local – www.city.hamilton.on.ca • Small Business Enterprise Centre • www.hamiltonsmallbusiness.ca • Economic Development Department • http://www.city.hamilton.on.ca/CityDepartments/ecdev/default.htm • Hamilton Business Directory • www.hamiltonbusinessdirectory.ca • Inform Hamilton • www.inform.city.hamilton.on.ca • Hamilton Chamber of Commerce members • www.vbgdir.com/hamilton

32. Resources – Online Databases • Suppliers • Frasers - Directory of over 40,000 manufacturers and distributors with over 30,000 product and service categories. You can search by company name, product/service or brand name and further refine by geographic region.www.frasers.com • Canadian Trade Index - Information on over 32,000 Canadian companies (20,000 manufacturers, 11,500 exporters, 7,000 distributors of products in Canada, and 3,700 service companies for manufactured products) www.ctidirectory.com

33. Resources - Others • www.Canadaone.com – small business portal with directory • www.CharityVillage.com – great for non-profits • Canadian Federation of Independent Business – federal lobbying group for small business www.cfib.ca • www.soyouwanna.com – has a off-beat but useful guide to writing a business plan (U.S. site) • www.smallbusinesscanada.ca – Small Business magazine with good collection of articles • www.bplans.com - Commercial site with library of sample business plans • Canadian Bankers Association – publications, tools and resources about the banking industry www.cba.ca

34. Resources – Evaluate the Information • Authority of Author or Organization • Is background information provided? • Do an Internet search to see where else the author or organization’s name appear • Do other trustworthy sites link to this site?

35. Resources – Evaluate the Information • Currency of Information • Does the page indicate when it was created? • How often is the page updated? • When was the page last revised? • Is the information obviously out-of-date?

36. Resources – Evaluate the Information • Objectivity of Information • Does information agree with other resources you have found? • Is the content biased? • Is the information an opinion or fact?

37. Conclusion • “Now that we have all this useful information, it would be nice to do something with it. (Actually, it can be emotionally fulfilling just to get the information. This is usually only true, however, if you have the social life of a kumquat.)”- Unix Programmer's Manual

38. Conclusion For more information, please visit our website at: http://www.hamiltonsmallbusiness.ca/ Or contact us at 2 King St. W., Jackson Square, Unit 234 905-540-6400