Business Plan Resources to Access from Home

Have a question for your business projects that requires research?   Our friendly and knowledgeable Librarians can help!  Whether you are looking at starting a business or growing your existing one, doing research is a "mission-critical" part of being in business.   

Set up a 30-minute, online video consultation with our Business Librarians for research help and assistance with using databases available from home, as well as access to resources which may not be available  from home. Our Librarians are available for 30-min video consultations on weekdays.      Click here to book your Video Consultation

There are many business resources that you can access from home with your library card.
Don't have a library card?    New York residents can get a Digital Library Card. 

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We have expanded access a top directory you can use for business research: Reference Solutions ( Formerly titled Reference USA.)
Use Reference Solutions to find companies, including many small companies, by name or by industry. Do an advanced search to find companies which do what your companies do, by searching by keyword. Limit by size, location and more. 

One of the best databases for starting a business is the Small Business Reference Center. Use to find articles, industry reports and more.  Includes e-books to read online and small business guides.

Business Insights Essentials- Use for company information, SWOT reports, industry data.

Business Source Complete- Use for company information, industry reports and more. 

Emerging Markets/EMIS - Use for information on business and companies in developing countries. Includes Global Market reports for many industries.  After entering your bar code and PIN, click the box "Client Login" to access the database. 

Gale Virtual Reference Library- Includes business books in e-version. Includes the series: Business Plan Handbooks, which has sample business plans.  Search for the Business Plan Handbooks and then search within the series for a plan similar to your plan. 

Gale Directory Library- To access the Encyclopedia of Associations. Select “National Organizations of the US” and search within the results by keyword to find trade associations in your industry. 

Plunkett Research - Use for business plan data, industry and market research and business trends. Click "Subscribers Log In" to access the database. Also includes industry statistics, associations, companies, "Build a Report" feature. (Please logout when done, don't just close the browser window.) 

Regional Business News- includes local business publications. 

Simply Analytics - Create custom maps and comparative tables of data for business plans or presentations. Includes thousands of demographic, business, and marketing data variables. Includes Mediamark Research (MRI) data which produces current estimates of usage and consumption (propensity) for thousands of very specific and detailed products, including actual brand data, details of frequency of usage, and more.

Check our LibGuides to Business Information. The Industry Information guide includes links to trade journals on the web. Trade journals provide news and industry trends and data. 

To find more databases including newspaper databases, Use the NYPL Articles & Databases menu and limit to databases from home. 

Try this link and search for trade and business publications to access through databases. Use the “Title Contains” option and search by keyword if you don’t have a specific magazine title.  

And don't forget about E-Books. The library has thousands of business e-books you can access at home for all aspect of starting and running a small business. .