LibGuides: Entrepreneurship & Startup Accelerator Research Guide: 2. Understanding Your Market & Users

Researching the market size, customer needs, and demand.

Market Research

Academic Databases
- Business Source Complete – Articles on consumer behavior, marketing, and competitors.
- PrivCo – Private company profiles, funding rounds, and competitive intelligence.
- Statista – Consumer surveys, spending data, and market forecasts.
Government Resources
- Census Business Builder – Customized demographic + business data for market analysis.
- Consumer Expenditure Survey – Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer spending patterns across categories.
- Data.census.gov – Demographics, household data, population segments.
Key Web Resources
- Pew Research Center – Information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world.

Industry Research

Government Resources
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Industry Accounts – GDP by industry, supply-use tables.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Industry Data – Employment, wages, productivity by sector.
- County Business Patterns – establishments, employment, payroll by industry and geography.
- International Trade Administration (Industry & Country Guides) – Industry profiles, export trends, trade policies.
- NAICS Codes – North American Industry Classification Codes.

Artificial Intelligence

AI’s role: synthesize large pools of user voices.

Customer-Centered Value Proposition Prompt:

“Based on the product [product or concept], generate a value proposition targeted at [specific customer persona]. Use the "Jobs to Be Done" framework: what job are they hiring this to do? What pains does it remove and what gains does it create?”

Source: 2025 David Robertson. InnoNavi Innovation Prompt Templates . Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.