Planning a Business
Planning is key to starting a business. The following sources will help you assess industries, research your market, and evaluate the competition. Others contain references to help you write a business plan and find financing for your venture.

• Assessing an Industry
These sources can be used to find projections and financial background on various industries.

Ref 338.544 MER
Mergent’s Industry Review

Ref 338.544 RMA
RMA Annual Statement Studies

Ref 338.544 STA
Standard & Poor’s Industry Surveys

• Market Analysis and Product Marketing
Ref 317.3 COM
+ The Community Sourcebook of ZIP Code Demographics

Ref 381.1 DIR
Direct Marketing Marketplace

Ref 381.1 EDI
Editor & Publisher Market Guide

Ref 381.1 SUR
Survey of Media Markets

Developing a Business Plan
658.4012 ABR
The Successful Business Plan: Secrets & Strategies by Rhonda M. Abrams

658.4012 PIN
Anatomy of a Business Plan: A Step by Step Guide to Building a Business and Securing Your Company’s Future by Linda Pinson

658.4012 RUL
Rule’s Book of Business Plans for Startups: Creating a Winning Plan That You Can Take to the Bank by Roger C. Rule

CD-ROM 658.4012 BUS
Business Plan Writer Deluxe 2004

• Finding Financing
658.1522 MOH
Financing Your Business: Get a Grip on Finding the Money by Angie Mohr

658.15224 GRE
Streetwise Financing the Small Business by Charles H. Green

658.15224 WAL
Financing Your Small Business by Robert Walter

658.1592 SIS
Financing the Small Business: A Complete Guide to Obtaining Bank Loans and All Other Types of Financing by Robert Sisson

• Buying or Selling an Existing Business
658.15 FEL
What Every Business Owner Should Know About Valuing Their Business by Stanley J. Feldman

658.15 LIP
Valuing Your Business: Strategies to Maximize the Sale Price by Frederick D. Lipman

658.16 SIM
Business Valuation Bluebook: How Successful Entrepreneurs Price, Buy, Sell and Trade Businesses by Chad Simmons

658.162 NOT
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Guide to Buying or Selling a Business by Ira N. Nottonson

• Buying a Franchise
658.87 BON
Bond’s Top 100 Franchises by Robert E. Bond

658.87 KEU
Franchise Bible: How to Buy a Franchise or Franchise Your Own Business by Erwin J. Keup

658.87 LES
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Book of Franchises by Rieva Lesonsky

658.87 MEA
How to Buy a Franchise by James A. Meaney

Setting Up Shop
Nuts and bolts instructions to make your dream a reality.

• Specifics on Starting a Business in Illinois
346.0652 CON
How to Start a Business in Illinois by Linda H. Connell

346.066 WILAlso in Reference
How to Form Your Own Illinois Corporation Before the Inc. Dries!: A Step-by-Step Guide, with Forms by Phil Williams

658.022 STAAlso in Reference
Starting a Business in Illinois

658.11 HOW
How to Start A Business in Illinois

• General Information on Starting a Small Business
The following titles contain advice on starting any type of business. The library also has series such as Start Your Own ____ and Start and Run ____, which have information on starting a specific type of business. Ask a reference librarian for assistance in finding titles on the specific type of business you are interested in.

Ref 658.022 SMA
Small Business Sourcebook

658.022 AXM
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Small Business Advisor: All You Need to Know by Andi Axman

658.022 ULT
The Ultimate Small Business Guide: A Resource for Startups and Growing Businesses

658.041 STA
Start Your Own Business

658.114 STR
The Business Start-Up Kit by Steven D. Strauss

658.1141 TUR
Unofficial Guide to Starting a Small Business by Marcia Layton Turner


• Home-based Businesses
658.041 ATT
The Home Office and Small Business Answer Book: Solutions to the Most Frequently Asked Questions about Starting and Running Your Business by Janet Attard

658.041 HUF
101 Best Home-Based Businesses for Women by Priscilla Y. Huff

658.041 RAM
101 Best Home Businesses by Dan Ramsey

658.0412 STE
Ultimate Home-Based Handbook: How to Start, Run, and Grow Your Own Profitable Business by James Stephenson

• The Internet and Your Business
658.1141 LYN
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Start Your Own Business on eBAY: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Success by Jacquelyn Lynn

658.84 SWE
101 Internet Businesses You Can Start from Home by Susan Sweeney

658.84 ZIM
Marketing on the Internet by Jan Zimmerman

DVD 658.84 GET
Getting Started in E-Commerce

• Legal Sources and Business Forms
346.0652 SIT
Small Business Legal Forms Simplified by Dan Sitarz

346.0652 STE
Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business by Fred Steingold

346.066 ECK
How to Form Your Own Corporation by W. Kelsea Eckert

651.29 SIT
The Complete Book of Small Business Management Forms by Dan Sitarz

658.022 SPA
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Ultimate Book of Business Forms by Michael Spadaccini

• Buying Equipment
Ref 381.45 BET Consumer Table
Better Buys for Business

• Special Directories
Use these sources to find suppliers for your new business.

*Ref 338.47 ILL Reference Desk
Illinois Manufacturers Directory

Ref 338.47 THOAlso Computer Database
Thomas Register

Ref 382.1 AME
American Wholesalers & Distributors Directory

Ref 382.5 DIR
Directory of United States Importers

Ref 382.6 DIR
Directory of United States Exporters

Online Database
Harris Selectory (Accessible from Home)

Online Database
Reference USA (Accessible from Home)

Personnel Issues
• Employee Selection
344.01 WEI
Fair, Square & Legal: Safe Hiring, Managing and Firing Practices to Keep You & Your Company Out of Court by Donald H. Weiss

658.311 ART
Recruiting, Interviewing, Selecting & Orienting New Employees by Diane Arthur

658.3112 BAR
Reference Checking for Everyone: What You Need to Know to Protect Yourself, Your Business, and Your Family by Paul William Barada

658.3112 WEN
Smart Hiring: The Complete Guide to Finding and Hiring the Best Employees by Robert W. Wendover

• Salary Information and Managing Employees
Ref 331.21 AME
American Salaries & Wages Survey

Ref 339.42 ACC
ACCRA Cost of Living Index

*Ref 344.01 ILL
+ Illinois and Federal Employment Law Manual

Ref 344.01 SAU
Employment in Illinois: A Guide to Employment Laws, Regulations and Practices by M.G. Sautter

Ref 344.01 WHA
What to Do About Personnel Problems in Illinois

Ref 346.013 AME
Americans with Disabilities Act: Employee Rights & Employer Obligations

Ref 658.306 BLR
BLR’s Job Descriptions Encyclopedia

344.01 FLE
Employer’s Rights: Your Legal Handbook from Hiring to Termination and Everything in Between by Charles H. Fleischer

344.01 STE
The Employer’s Legal Handbook by Fred Steingold

Magazines and Periodical Databases
Periodicals often contain current, useful business information. The library subscribes to a number of business periodicals that can be found in the “new” and “back issues” areas of the reference department. Some titles of interest: Business Ledger, Business Week, Crain’s Chicago Business, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, Forbes, + Fortune Small Business, + Home Business, Inc., Industry Week, Sales & Marketing Management, and Workforce Management.

Many business articles can also be accessed using the periodicals databases available on the resources computers in the library, or from home via the library’s webpage at www.downersgrovelibrary.org.

ABI Inform on FirstSearch (Accessible from home)
A collection of many full text business articles from trade and professional journals.

Infotrac (General Reference Center Gold) (Accessible from home)
Article citations and full text to general business periodicals.

Special Services
• Recommended Internet Sites
The library’s website lists many useful Internet sites for the business patron. Access them by going to www.downersgrovelibrary.org then click on “Databases & Websites” then click on “Business and Finance.”

• SWAN
Search the library’s catalog to find materials available locally and at 77 other area libraries via the library’s webpage at www.downersgrovelibrary.org. Once at the library’s website, click on “Search the Catalog.”

• Interlibrary Loan
Materials not available at the Downers Grove Public Library can be borrowed by Downers Grove cardholders from other libraries. See a reference librarian for assistance.

• FAX
The library will fax material to Downers Grove cardholders for a small fee.

• Library Cards
A courtesy card is available to businesses that are located within the corporate boundaries of Downers Grove. Call the Circulation desk at (630) 960–1200 for details.

+ Titles were purchased with money donated by the Downers Grove Public Library Foundation

Prepared by Bonnie Reid, September 2005