ENTR 4P10: Planning New Venture Creation

This part of the new venture planning process involves assessing industry attractiveness and target market attractiveness.

The sources listed on this page can help you to:

• learn more about an industry by scanning published industry reports in Library Databases or other sources
• identify competitors with similar products/services using Library Databases or other sources
• identify relevant industry and trade associations as potential information sources

You can learn more about industries and the competitive landscape by consulting one or more of the following sources of industry reports. 

Additional sources and suggestions can be found on these research guides:

You can identify competitors using a variety of business or company directories, databases, and web sites. You can often identify competitors within the same industry by searching by NAICS code or by keywords in the NAICS description. 

Get Help looking up NAICS codes

Other Resources for Identifying Competitors

It can be difficult to identify small, local businesses or nonprofit organizations in standard company directories or databases. Think outside the box and try the following resources:

• Business, industry and trade associations can be excellent sources of research, statistics, and current information on industries including lists of current member firms. These associations often publish this information on their own web sites.
• IBISWorld Industry Reports (available via the Brock University Library) routinely list such associations in the Additional Resources section of each report.

Local/Niagara Associations