Research Guides: ENTR 2P51: Entrepreneurship Basics: Organizational Feasibility

Organizational Feasibility

Organizational Feasibility Analysis includes the assessment of:

management prowess: what is the ability of the initial management team?
resource sufficiency: what nonfinancial resources such as human resources (management, employees), facilities/location, equipment, intellectual property protection, etc. are required?

If you are starting a specific type of small business, such as a restaurant or a retail store, there are often 'how to' books that might answer these types of questions. Search in Omni (Brock Library's academic search tool), in Amazon.ca or Google Books to identify relevant titles.

Omni This link opens in a new window
- Brock's largest Interdisciplinary search tool
- Millions of journal articles, books & ebooks, newspapers, videos, magazines and more!

Startup Guides (Entrepreneurship Research Guide)
The Startup Guides page on the Entrepreneurship Research Guide lists a number of general "how to" guides for starting businesses in Canada, as well as guides to starting specific types of businesses (e.g., restaurants, retail, service, technology, creative/cultural).

Human Resources

Do you require employees with specialized skills? How hard will it be to recruit key employees?

Facilities / Location, & Production / Operations

The following sources can help when assessing production and operating requirements for your new product or service as well as the availability of affordable office, retail, manufacturing, of other types of spaces:

Sourcing Equipment & Suppliers

Consult one of the following trade directories in order to identify companies that manufacture or distribute industrial products and services. Most directories allow you to search by company, product, or brand name, or to browse by category.

Canadian Manufacturer's Database (via Nexis Uni)
Frasers Directory
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You can also search for articles in trade journals in Frasers.

Incorporation, Intellectual Property & Other Legal Issues

The following sources provide information on business structures (e.g., incorporation), laws & regulations, business names, business permits, & business licenses, in Canada:

Canada's Business Registries
Search by name for businesses (including nonprofit corporations) registered in Canada. The information is from the official registries of Alberta, British Columbia, Corporations Canada, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.
BizPal (website)
This is a free online business permits and licensing service. Use it to determine which licenses you will need to operate your business in Canada.
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"Launched in 2005, BizPaL is jointly managed by a partnership involving governments at the federal, provincial, territorial and municipal levels. Provinces, territories and hundreds of municipalities have collaborated together to provide you with the permits and licences that may be required to start and grow your business."
Business Regulations Guide (FedDev Ontario Small Business Services)
Federally regulated industry sectors (Government of Canada)

Intellectual Property: Copyright, Trademarks, Patents, & Industrial Designs

Canadian Information Sources:

Canadian Intellectual Property Office (Government of Canada)
Learn about intellectual property and search the CIPO databases for patents, trademarks, copyright and industrial designs.
Intellectual Property Basics (Government of Canada)
Learn about intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, copyright, industrial design and integrated circuit topographies, and how they can protect your business.
Intellectual Property (MaRS Discovery District Library)
A curated collection of resources on Intellectual Property for startups: including Starting Out; IP 101: Patents: Copyright & Trademarks, IP Agreements; IP Strategy.

Mobile App Developers And Intellectual Property

Canadian Legal Information Sources:

IP Issues for Mobile App Developers (Oyen Wiggs)
"This article outlines some basic intellectual property issues and related precautionary measures that app developers may wish to consider". The author, Amy Fong, is a Senior Associate with Oyen Wiggs, a Canadian law firm.
Your first patent application, what you need to know (Oyen Wiggs)
"This article discusses some considerations for deciding where and what to file as the first application", Amy Fong is a senior associate with Oyen Wiggs, a Canadian law firm.

U.S. Legal Information Sources:

Intellectual Property Licensing

What is Licensing? Find out by reading these topic overviews:

Plan Your IP Strategy (Government of Canada)
Provides an overview of how product licensing works: licensing your intellectual property to other businesses, or licensing someone else's product.
The Basics of Brand Licensing (Licensing Journal)
The article discusses the basics and processes involved in brand licensing. The two components of brand licensing and why companies brand their products and services to convey a level of quality, reliability and durability is provided. Ideas on how companies can use licensing to enter new categories and the expectations of licensors and licensees in the process are also explained.

Licensing (Encyclopedia of Sports Management & Marketing)
"In a business context, licensing is the renting of an intangible asset—intellectual property, the rights to which are owned by the licensor—to a licensee through an arrangement with the licensor. For instance, a t-shirt company may wish to use a trade-marked logo or other design on its t-shirts, and seek a licensing agreement with the owner of the logo; in this case, the benefit to the licensor is simply the revenue generated as part of that agreement, typically a royalty on sales".