Free Resources for Entrepreneurs

Posted on April 20, 2012 by cindy504

We just concluded Entrepreneur Week in New Orleans, sponsored by the Idea Village. Everyone should be inspired to make their business vision a reality. Here is a variety of resources to educate and inspire.

Resource Libraries. One of the best, Biz Info Library, is sponsored by two major players in the entrepreneurship world, the Kaufman and the Edward Lowe Foundations. (www.bizinfolibrary.org). It features an extensive collection of resources relating to entrepreneurship, searchable by a number of categories including strategic planning, market research, marketing, financial management, funding, sales, and technology.

Blogs. There are a number of excellent blogs covering topics important to entrepreneurs. Check out those of the Harvard Business Review (http://blogs.hbr.org/), Forbes (www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs), and Inc. Magazine (www.inc.com/blogs). All are free, and available via RSS feed.

Videos and podcasts. Stanford University’s Entrepreneurship Corner (http://ecorner.stanford.edu/) offers a searchable library of digital talks on various business related topics, all free and downloadable in a variety of formats. Speakers include major figures such as Guy Kawasaki (Garage Technology Ventures), Larry Page (Google), and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook).

Ideas. Need to get your creative juices flowing? Subscribe to Springwise (http://springwise.com/), “your essential fix for entrepreneurial ideas”. Helped by a network of spotters, it scans the globe for smart new business ideas, delivering instant inspiration to entrepreneurial minds. The site features an Ideas Database of more than 3,000 business ideas, arranged by category.

Maps – Powerful Data Presentation

Posted on June 14, 2011 by cindy504

Maps – Powerful Data Presentation

Mapping is a powerful way to present information with a geographic component. Patterns buried in a spreadsheet of data leap out when presented visually, and interactive maps allow the user to explore different aspects of the subject matter. Several recently released applications illustrate different uses of this tool.

Trulia, the nationwide residential real estate search engine, has released the interactive Crime Maps that lets you explore, compare and comment on crimes across the country. The beta version has data for fifty metro areas, including New Orleans, collected from over 1,000 different sources. Users can access the number and types of crimes by zip code or intersection, and compare one neighborhood against another. Heat maps show historical crime patterns over the previous twelve months. Via Facebook’s social plug-in, users can leave detailed comments, providing personal context and relevance to the crime data. An interesting presentation of hyper-local data combined with social media.

To mark the beginning of hurricane season, the U.S. Census Bureau released an updated version of its map based data tool depicting disasters. On the Map for Emergency Management tracks fires, floods (both occurring and likely), and tropical storms (including current wind patterns and forecast area). It automatically incorporates real time data updates from the National Weather Service, Departments of Interior and Agriculture, and other agencies. Users can also access historical data on previous events, and details on the number of workers impacted by the disasters. Very relevant during this period of extreme weather conditions.

What a long way we have come from atlas books and highway maps!

The New American Factfinder

Posted on January 18, 2011 by cindy504

The New American Factfinder

The U.S. Census Bureau launched a revamped version of its primary data delivery tool, American FactFinder, this month. As this will be the primary vehicle for accessing 2010 Census data, the redesign is timely and welcome.

The 2011 FactFinder offers a new look, new tools and easier access to Census Bureau information. Users can search and analyze demographic and economic information about the nation and its communities using a variety of methods, with searches available based on keywords, geographies, population and ancestry groups, industries, and predefined topics. The data can be downloaded in a variety of formats, and enhanced manipulation of tables, such as transposing rows and columns, is now available. An especially nice feature is the ability to create customized maps based on many data sets.

What exactly is included in American Factfinder besides the Decennial Census?

American Community Survey is an ongoing annual survey drawn from a sample of households, designed to give communities current information needed to plan investments and services. Data is collected on age, sex, race, family and relationships, education, health care, veteran status, where you work and how you get there, and where you live and how much you pay for essentials. A comparable survey is available for Puerto Rico.

The first wave of neighborhood level data was released in December. But there is a caveat for Louisiana. For the first time, the Census Bureau used a five year estimating period, with data collected between January, 2005 and December, 2009. Given the Katrina related disruptions, the information does not reflect the current size and characteristics of the population.

Population Estimates Program publishes estimated population totals for the previous year for cities and towns, metropolitan areas, counties, and states. Existing data series such as births, deaths, Federal tax returns, Medicare enrollment, and immigration are used to update the decennial census base counts as of July 1 of the current year.

Economic Census is the collective name for the censuses of construction, manufacturers, minerals, minority- and women-owned businesses, retail trade, service industries, transportation, and wholesale trade. It is conducted by the Census Bureau every five years, in years ending in 2 and 7, and profiles the U.S. economy from the national to the local level and by detailed industry and business classification.

Annual Economic Surveys. Three different surveys are included in Factfinder. The Annual Survey of Manufactures provides sample estimates of statistics for all manufacturing establishments with one or more paid employee, including employment, payroll, supplemental labor costs, cost of materials consumed, operating expenses, value of shipments, value added by manufacturing, detailed capital expenditures, fuels and electric energy used, and inventories. County Business Patterns , which covers most of the country’s economic activity, is useful for studying small areas. It includes the number of establishments, number of employees, and payroll data by NAICS code. Nonemployer Statistics collects economic data by industry for nonemployer businesses, ones that have no paid employees, annual business receipts of $1,000 or more, and are subject to federal income taxes.

Free Company Information

Posted on February 3, 2010 by cindy504

Free Company Information

I’m often asked about free sources of company information. Does no cost data exist? The answer is yes – up to a point.

Basic company information can be obtained through several web based sources. Searchable by name, geography, or industry Hoover’s provides profiles for larger businesses, both US and international. ZoomInfo offers similar data via a quick search by company name. If you are looking for information on a small business, Manta can be useful, with 64 million listings across the globe. For publicly traded companies, Corporate Information has company snapshots and investment quality ratings.

Other sites can be useful for finding suppliers by industry. Kompass and Alibaba have an international focus, and are searchable by name, industry, and geography. Business.com and AllBusiness offer industry based company listings, as well as a wealth of other information. For industrial companies, Thomas Register and MacRae’s Bluebook are helpful.

Don’t overlook the public library! Many libraries subscribe to ReferenceUSA, a company data base including over 14 million U.S. businesses. RefUSA is searchable by name, SIC or NAICS code, geography, business size, and other categories. It provides data generally found in company data bases, including company profile, top executives, products/services, number of employees, and estimated sales. It also contains a credit rating score and UCC filings (property pledged as collateral to creditors). Searches may be downloaded, but there is a limit on the number of records.

A wealth of information can be found on publicly traded companies. Their mandatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission can be found on EDGAR. Annual reports also contain great data, and are available via AnnualReports.com or Public Register OnLine.

Also check corporate registrations; the Secretary of State generally houses this data. Louisiana has an easily searchable listing – LA Corporations DataBase. And don’t forget to review the company’s own website.

Unfortunately, more sophisticated information – credit reports, expert analyses – is not available for free. Many “free” sources encourage you to purchase in-depth data. Fair enough.