LibGuides: How to Research Your Competitors: Online Resources

Competition Research Database

Why is researching your competition important?
Researching your competition can help you: identify the trends that affect your industry; determine whether your expenditures, profit, and your balance sheet or on par with your competitors; and help you network with other professionals in your industry and find all of the suppliers and service providers.

How can our resources help?
By using our resources you can find market research reports, trend reports, company and industry profiles, reference books, sample business plans and almost everything else you will need to help you identify and research your competition.

What else can the Business and Career Center do for you?
The Learning Resources can be found through the library's website and can be accessed with the Laptops in the Business and Career Center. These laptops are available for loan using your Brooklyn Public Library card. Do not hesitate to ask for help or suggestions from the librarian in the center. You can also make an appointment online for one-on-one research help. To find out more about our Book a Librarian service, click here.

Learning Resources with Remote Access

All of these resources can be accessed from home using your Brooklyn Public Library card and your 4 digit PIN. Either follow these links or go to https://www.bklynlibrary.org/online-resources/list to see the full list of our resources.

ABI Inform This link opens in a new window
Find current business information in full articles from business journals, newspapers, and trade publications.
Publications include Wall Street Journal and Barron's.
Business Insights: Essentials This link opens in a new window
Company and industry profiles, including brand information, investment reports, market research reports, rankings and news.
Gale Business: Entrepreneurship This link opens in a new window
Information on opening, operating, and growing a small business including financing, managing, marketing, and accounting; contains sample business plans.
Gale Directory Library This link opens in a new window
Business directories for companies, publishers, associations and more. Includes titles like Brands and Their Companies and Ward's Business Directory.
Mergent Intellect This link opens in a new window
Access to public & private U.S. and international business data, executive contact information, First Research industry profiles, current D&B Key Business Ratios, job search, residential look-ups, and Census demographics.
Plunkett Research Online This link opens in a new window
Market research, industry analysis and company profiles.
Reference Solutions This link opens in a new window
Commercial and residential directory listings, job postings, and data for entrepreneurs to research target customers, competitors and suppliers.
Statista This link opens in a new window
Quantitative data categorized into 21 market sectors such as media, business, finance, and politics.
Winmo This link opens in a new window
Previously known as Redbooks, Winmo provides background on advertisers - their brands, media spending, campaigns, and contacts, and detailed profiles of advertising agencies - their clients, market specialization, and contacts.

Learning Resources only available at the Brooklyn Public Library

All of these resources can ONLY be accessed on a Brooklyn Public Library computer at the Central Library or at one of our branch locations. More details about each of these resources will be listed in their individual descriptions.

Sports Market Analytics This link opens in a new window
Market research and industry news on all aspects of the sporting goods and sports marketing industries, including sports equipment sales, sports participation, broadcasting and sponsorship. On the SMA log-in page, enter only your library card number. The username and password fields are auto-populated by the vendor.