Business Information Resources
This Guide outlines key sources of information which business managers can use when carrying out business research.
COMPANY INFORMATION
First Steps – Setting up your own business Set up a limited company? Operate as a sole trader? Work as a partnership? To find out the pros and cons, and the implications of each corporate structure, you’ll need to check out the CRO website www.cro.ie Some other useful public information sites about starting a business in Ireland are Basis – Access point to all government information and services Revenue Commissioners Starting a business in Ireland County and City Enterprise Boards Business Innovation Centres www.basis.ie www.revenue.ie www.startingabusinessinireland.com www.enterpriseboards.ie www.dbic.ie, www.corkbic.com, www.westbic.ie, www.sebic.ie
Getting the right website address could prove vital, so before choosing your company name, make sure the URL is available. See www.register.ie to check.
Finding out about other companies Researching other companies (be they customers, suppliers, competitors, or potential partners) can be of huge value – especially before you approach them directly. This research can provide useful information such as Financial data revealing company performance Key product/service range Background on company executives News about their customers, partners, their recent sales wins, and other corporate initiatives.
Some good sources which you can use for researching companies are Corporate Websites (find these by using Google or another search engine)
Company information databases www.kompass.com www.thomasregister.com www.hoovers.com www.hemmscott.com
Worldwide company database US and Canadian manufacturers and distributors Hoovers online Hemmington Scott
Newspaper archives. All of these newspapers have searchable archives – simply enter the name of the company you’re researching and browse through the articles mentioning it o www.irish-times.com o www.guardian.co.uk o www.ft.com List brokers – these are companies which provide mailing lists (with contact details) of potential customers o www.bill-moss.com o www.kompass.ie
DIRECTORIES, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS, DICTIONARIES
This is a list of websites which can be very useful for any aspect of researching a new business, whether it’s getting your facts right for your business plan, or simply making sure your document reads well: An easy to use online dictionary An online thesaurus A comprehensive and up to date online encyclopaedia An online encyclopaedia Irish telephone directory and services listing The Internet Acronym Server Glossary of terms that re updated regularly Guide to IT terms, includes technology news and white papers www.dictionary.com www.thesaurus.com www.wikipedia.com www.howstuffworks.com www.goldenpages.ie http//silmaril.ie/cgi-bin/uncgi/acronyms www.webopedia.com www.whatis.com
MARKET RESEARCH
A good first port of call for general market research should be the normal internet search engines, listed below. Remember to keep your search terms (or keywords) quite general at first, then narrow down by being more specific: www.google.com www.yahoo.com www.ask.com www.altavista.com
These may direct you to aggregator sites where you can purchase market research reports. Aggregators are companies which collate information about reports from a variety of publishers. Using aggregators can save you time, and you can purchase directly from them. Some aggregators you’re likely to come across: www.marketresearch.com www.researchandmarkets.com The main market intelligence companies, i.e. the publishers of the original market research reports are: www.mintel.com www.forrester.com www.globalbusinessinsights.com www.datamonitor.com www.euromomitor.com www.informa.com www.keynote.co.uk www.verdict.co.uk www.frost.com Finally, don’t forget to check out libraries in your area. Some have business information specialist centres, where you can browse through some reports at no cost. One good example is: The Business Information Centre at the Central Library, ILAC Centre in Dublin www.dublincity.ie/RecreationandCulture/libr aries/Library%20Services/Business_Informat ion/Pages/index.aspx
COUNTRY INFORMATION
If you’re interested in expanding to a new geographic region, then carrying out your research in advance could either make or break this initiative. So, it’s important that you check resources such as: The CIA World Factbook. This has detailed www.cia.gov information about every country in the world, with digital references, maps and appendices on international organisations Overview of each EU member country (as http//europa.eu well as information about the EU) Economic information about each OECD www.oecd.org member country
For some general guides on doing business in different countries see: Country Commercial Guides from US http//www.buyusainfo.net
Commercial Service The Economist Intelligence Unit Country Reports (for purchase)
www.eiu.com
For statistical information you should refer to each country’s national statistics site - these will provide a wealth of valuable data Ireland UK USA Links to every country’s national statistics website Official EU statistics Collated statistical data on every country www.cso.ie http//www.statistics.gov.uk/ http//www.census.gov/ www.offstats.auckland.ac.nz http//epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu www.stat.fi/tup/maanum/index_en.html
To get up to speed on what’s happening overseas why not browse through each country’s national newspapers at www.scripps.ohiou.edu/lasher/int-nwsp.htm Finally, without going too far from home, you should contact the country’s embassy here in Ireland. Here’s a listing of the foreign embassies in Ireland http//foreignaffairs.gov.ie/home/index.aspx?od=376
IMPORT / EXPORT, REGULATORY & LEGAL
Getting up to speed with rules and regulations around importing and exporting is a vital early task for companies in this area. Some key resources to check are: Trade Information and Regulations (when exporting outside the EU) UK Trade and Investment Market Access Database an EU site with essential information on importing and exporting to non-EU countries http//www.enterpriseireland.com/Exports/Duties+and+Regulations www.ukinvest.gov.uk http//mkaccdb.eu.int
For information on standards: Ireland’s National Standards body, with links to standards bodies worldwide www.nsai.ie
For information on patents: Enterprise Ireland site with access to Patent Databases US Patents www.techsearch.ie http://ep.espacenet.com/
Patents Globally European Patent Office Irish Patents Office International Patent Classifications
www.google.com/patents www.epo.org www.patentsoffice.ie www.wipo.int/classifications
For information on trademarks: EU US http://oami.europa.eu/en/default.htm www.uspto.gov/
For information on European Law http//eur-lex.europa.eu
SEARCH TOOLS & TIPS
With any information search, whether it’s on the phone, the internet or a specialist market research database, you’ll be better off by observing these simple tips Think carefully about what information you really need, don’t get bogged down by interesting but unnecessary detail When using search engines keep your key words broad and general – especially at first. Then you can narrow down your search by adding in more specific keywords. Take the time to read tips for searching, FAQs and help sections, these can save you time in the long run.
BUSINESS INFORMATION - SECTORS
As well as the general resources above, you’ll need to research your own business sector in some detail. The following sections list good business information resources for a number of business sectors.
Sector: INDUSTRIAL - Engineering
There are several different disciplines in the engineering profession. Below are links to some generic organisations which will in turn point browsers in the direction of more specific engineering fields: Engineers Ireland represents the Engineering profession in Ireland. Has links to trade journals, the institute library and engineering publications EELS - The Engineering eLibrary, Sweden. This site lists quality assessed internet resources in the technical sciences EEVL – the Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library is an engineering directory and search engine listing resources on the different engineering disciplines www.iei.ie
http://eels.lub.lu.se
http://eevl.ac.uk
Sector: INDUSTRIAL - Electronics
Below is a list of specialist publishers – these websites contain up to date and high level business intelligence on the electronics sector Reed Electronic Research (€) – a comprehensive resource for electronics information internationally, including bespoke reports, interactive data and research publications The Electronic Industries Alliance – a partnership of electronic and high tech industry associations. This site provides links to member websites with access to a broad variety of market information www.rer.co.uk
www.eia.org
Sector: FOOD & CONSUMER – Food & Beverages
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has a business start up section on their website www.fsai.ie Before setting up in the Food & Beverages sector companies will need to: Obtain the relevant legislation Register with the local office of the HSE Obtain a copy of the NSAI Guidelines www.fsai.ie/legislation/food/legislation_foodhygiene.asp www.hse.ie www.standards.ie
Some useful sources for industry news and articles are: Just Food Just Drinks FoodlineWeb (€) - allows searching of abstracts from a variety of food research databases. Articles or reports can then be published via the site A European based global food news site www.just-food.com www.just-drinks.com www.foodlineweb.co.uk
www.foodnavigator.com
Sector: INDUSTRIAL - Environment
For companies involved in this sector, a range of market intelligence resources are now coming online. Some of these are: Sustainable Energy Ireland - provides www.irish-energy.ie information for users on all aspects of energy-related subjects For general issues relating to the environment www.epa.ie Envirocentre - this is an environmental www.envirocentre.ie awareness portal from Enterprise Ireland. It provides information about events, publications, databases, environmental markets, standards and legislation
Sector: INDUSTRIAL – Healthcare and Life Sciences
This is another broad sector, but good starting points for research are: Espicom Business Intelligence (€), the Medical Devices and Pharma knowledge centre, contains market research reports, country and company analysis, and www.espicom.com
newsletters Biotechnology Ireland, from Enterprise Ireland. This website is the online centre for news, contacts, information and networking in the biotech sector The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association The Irish Medical Devices Association, a trade association representing the cluster of 85 member companies in this sector in Ireland
www.biotechnologyireland.com
www.ipha.ie www.ibec.ie/IMDA
Sector: ICT
There is a wealth of market information available on this sector, some of which comes in costly market research reports, but with some freely available. Find out which source is most relevant to you, and check it regularly to keep up to date. Well known market research companies in the ICT sector are www.gartner.com www.frost.com www.idc.com www.ovum.com Other sites which should be reviewed and revisited regularly are: Enterprise Ireland eBusiness – this site contains news updates, case studies, How To Guides and assessment tools. It is designed to help SME managers in Ireland understand and use IT and eBusiness to improve competitiveness and grow sales Techcentral - an Irish online resource for news and analysis of IT. This includes a section on news and trends, a supplier A-Z and an events diary The Register – IT news in the UK Techweb – daily reporting on the technology sector internationally Telecoms.com – for free and subscriptionbased newsletters covering technical and market developments in the telecoms industry worldwide. This site also contains directories and white papers ZDNET – a premium site that covers the full range of IT resources with fully international coverage www.enterprise-ireland.com/ebusiness
www.techcentral.ie
www.theregister.co.uk www.techweb.com www.telecoms.com
www.zdnet.com
Sector: SOFTWARE & INTERNATIONALLY TRADED SERVICES - Services
The Services Sector is defined by the Irish Central Statistics Office as covering Wholesale and retail businesses Hotels and restaurants Transport, storage and communication businesses Real Estate, renting and business services Other community, social and personal service activities For information on the retail sector see: Checkout.ie – a comprehensive trade magazine for the FMCG and grocery retail sector RGDATA – the representative organisation for the grocery trade in Ireland www.checkout.ie
www.rgdata.ie
For information on hotels and restaurants see: Failte Ireland – Ireland’s national tourism development authority. This site contains market information, research and statistics for businesses in this sector Hospitality Ireland – a trade magazine for Ireland’s food service and drinks sector www.failteireland.ie
www.hospitality-ireland.com
Other good resources for the services sector include: The Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Association The Irish Road Haulage Association www.iavi.ie www.irha.ie
OTHER SECTORS
Construction A comprehensive Irish directory for the Irish building industry www.irishbuildingindustry.ie
The Construction Industry Federation - the main Irish membership organisation for the sector
www.cif.ie
Textiles Textileweb, a US-based information resource for textile professionals Just Style - a global website providing news, selected articles and summaries of reports for the apparel, footwear and textile industry The office of textiles and apparel in the US, with information on international trade agreements www.textileweb.com www.just-style.com
www.otexa.ita.doc.gov