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Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneur: An individual who organizes, creates and manages a business venture as a personal undertaking.

Publications | Electronic Resources | Industries | Norms & Ratios | Value Chain || Organizations | Internet Resources | Government Resources | Patents Trademarks | Western Regional Associations | Trade Shows

See Also our Resource Pages on Venture Capital and Selected Industries

USC's Marshall School of Business Lloyd Greif Program has been ranked in the top 10 best colleges and universities offering entrepreneurial undergraduate and graduate studies in the United States in 2009. Read the results here!

Publications

University Libraries

Search HOMER for books and periodicals using the following words and phrases, or search eBrary for full-text books online:

  • Entrepreneur
  • Entreprenuership
  • Small business(es)
  • New business enterprises

Print Sources in Crocker Library

  • Great Big Book of Business Lists (Business Reference HD62.7 .T488 2006) - written by Greif Center graduates
  • Oxford Handbook of Entrepreneurship (Business Reference HB615 .O94 2006)
  • Small Business Legal Guide (Business Reference KF1659.Z9S525 1995)
  • Making Your Small Business a Success: more expert advice from the U.S. Small Business Administration (Reference HD62.7 .P68 1991)
  • SBA Hotline Answer Book (Reference HD62.5 .B4818 1992)
  • The McGraw-Hill Guide to Starting Your Own Business (Reference HD62.5 .H3734 2003)
  • The Small Business Handbook (Reference HD62.7 .P376 2006)
  • The Entrepreneur's Planning Handbook (Reference HB615 .B875 1987)
  • Rule's Book of Business Plans for Startups (Reference HD62.5 R85 2004)
  • The McGraw-Hill Guide to Writing a High-Impact Business Plan (Reference HD30.28 .A75 1995)
  • The Entrepreneur's Guide to Building a Better Business Plan (Reference HD30.28 .M3853 1992)
  • Prentice Hall Encyclopedia of Model Business Plans (Reference HD30.28 .C76 1998)
  • Business Plans Handbook (Reference HD62.7 .B865) multi-volume set containing actual business plans for a variety of companies and services.  Available online through Gale Virtual Reference Library (click on the Business link; USC network connection required)
  • Small Business Profiles (Reference HD62.7 .S62) two-volume set containing various business guidelines
  • The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Toolkit (Reference HF5415.13 .G58 2007)
  • Profit from Your Ideas: how to make smart licensing deals  (Reference KF3145 .Z9S75 2008)
  • The Prentice Hall Small Business Survival Guide (Reference HD62.7 .P72 1993)
  • The Girls' Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business (Reference HD6072.5 .S65 2008)
  • Financial Essentials for Small Business Success (Reference HD62.7 .S565 1994)
  • How Products Are Made (Business Reference TS146 .H69)
  • Business Valuation Resource Guide (Reference HG4028 .V8B438 2003)
  • Handbook of Small Business Valuation Formulas and Rules of Thumb (Reference HG4028 .V3D478 1993)
  • Business Valuation Handbook (Reference HG4028 .V3D47 1988)
  • Small Business Sourcebook (Reference HD2346.U5 .S66) two-volume set listing thousands of specialized businesses with resources to help start-up companies
  • Entrepreneurs (Reference HC29 .F83 1985) profiles successful individuals who created their companies from the ground up
  • United States Entrepreneurs and the Companies They Built (Reference Z7164.C81 N237 2003) an alphabetic listing of entrepreneur's names with biography listings attached

Trade Journals

Electronic Resources

These database links will re-direct you to our proxy-enabled subscription database page to facilitate connectivity:
  • ABI/Inform through ProQuest, Lexis/Nexis Academic, General Business File ASAP, and Factiva: keyword search "entrepreneur", "new business enterprises", "private enterprise", "small business owners", "small business ownership"
  • Business and Company Resource Center: keyword search specific industries or use SIC/NAICS codes to research trends and key players, plus full text access to Los Angeles Business Journal and Entrepreneur
  • Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage: search 'Industries' for trends and additional resources
  • IBISWorld: find U.S. industry market research reports indexed by NAICS code, or search by keyword
  • Mint Global: search the Market Research module to find US industry reports
  • Hoover's Online: search for company profiles for U.S. and global businesses, or type in a product and find all manufacturing and retail businesses related to it
  • Thomson One (this is only accessible through Internet Explorer): search for analyst reports covering industries globally
  • MarketResearchAcademic.com: keyword search for market research reports on a variety of industries and services
  • Global Market Information Database: find statistics and market share reports on consumer goods globally (Text Search); search under the 'Countries & Consumers' tab to find "Lifestyle" reports for various countries, including the U.S.
  • ReferenceUSA: find profiles on companies within specific geographic areas within the U.S.

Identifying Industries

There are three numeric industry coding systems which identify and allow for standardized searching of industries and classified establishments within them. These industry codes can be input into many different databases to retrieve lists of companies or broad industry reports.

Industry Norms and Ratios

USC Subscription-Based Online Sources: these database links will re-direct you to our proxy-enabled subscription database page to facilitate connectivity 
  • eStatement Studies: search by industry code or keyword identifier
  • Orbis and Osiris (Financials): search different ratio variables by industry
  • ValueLine: industry snapshots contain select ratios (Click on 'Standard Edition' then 'Industry Look-Up')
  • Factiva: search 'Companies/Markets' to find select company and industry ratios
  • Business & Company Resource Center: search the Company module to find current ratios 
  • Hoover's: contains comparative ratios for companies that are benchmarked against their primary industry
  • Mergent Online: contains company ratios, typically going back 15 years
Crocker Business Library
  • Dun & Bradstreet's Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios (Circulation Desk HF5681 .R25I525)
  • Risk Management Association Annual Statement Studies (Circulation Desk HF5681 .B2R6)
  • Troy's Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios (Circulation Desk HF5681 .R25T68)

Value Chain

def: the chain of value-adding activities contributing to the production, distribution and marketing of goods and services

  • Standard & Poor's NetAdvantage: search the Industries module for profiles and read "How the Industry Operates"
  • IBISWorld: each industry report contains a section on Cost Structure
  • ProQuest: find articles describing how products or services are made
  • How Products Are Made (Business Reference TS146 .H69)
  • Handbook of Manufacturing Processes: how products, components and materials are made (Business Reference TS183 .B73 2007)

Organizations

Internet Resources

Government Resources

Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights


Western Regional Associations

Trade Shows, Exhibitions, Events Calendars

Use these websites to find upcoming trade shows and exhibitions in your industry, or business networking events:

Publications | Electronic Resources | Industries | Norms & Ratios | Organizations | Internet Resources | Government Resources | Western Regional Associations |

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