U.S. Small Business Administration MT-8



 RESEARCHING YOUR MARKET



 Marketing Series

_________________________________________________________________


 Contributors to research and text
 J. Ford Laumer Jr., James R. Harris,
 Hugh J. Guffey Jr., Vaughan C. Judd
 Associate Professors of Marketing
 Auburn University
 Auburn, Alabama

 Robert C. Erffmeyer, Ph.D.
 Assistant Professor of Marketing
 Western Kentucky University
 Bowling Green, Kentucky

While we consider the contents of this publication to be of general
merit, its sponsorship by the U.S. Small Business Administration
does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the views and
opinions of the authors or the products and services of the
companies with which they are affiliated.

All of SBA's programs and services are extended to the public on a
nondiscriminatory basis.
_________________________________________________________________

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

TRASH AND PEANUTS

WHAT IS MARKETING RESEARCH?

WHY DO IT?

HOW TO DO IT
 Define the Problem (or Opportunity)
 Assess Available Information
 Gather Additional Information
 Outside Data
 Organize and Interpret Data
 Make a Decision and Take Action
 Assess the Results of the Action
 What You Can do
 Do, Don't Overdo

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 U.S. Government Publications
 U.S. Small Business Administration
 Bureau of the Census
 Other Agencies

APPENDIX: INFORMATION RESOURCES
_________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

To be successful, a small business must know its market.
Marketing research is simply an orderly, objective way of
learning about people -- the people who buy from you or might buy
from you.

This publication provides an overview of what market research is
and how it's done. It introduces inexpensive techniques that
small business owner-managers can apply to gather facts about
their customers and the people they'd like to have for customers.
_________________________________________________________________

TRASH AND PEANUTS

Some marketing research material is nothing but trash. Marketing
research can be done for peanuts -- even with peanuts. Shocking
statements? Perhaps, but both of them are literally true.

Take trash, for instance. Inspection of outgoing waste is a
practice at many small restaurants. People may order the Flounder
a la Marzipan because of the novelty of the dish; but if a
restaurateur finds most of it leaving the table uneaten, it had
better come off the menu because it won't be in demand much
longer.

You can use trash positively, too, to find out what people like.
It may not be very dignified to check trash cans for cartons and
containers, but they are a direct indication of what consumers
are buying. You could also find out what competitors are selling
(or at least ordering) by checking their trash.

The point here isn't to turn you into a scavenger, but to suggest
that marketing research isn't necessarily only done by
sophisticated staffs of statistical technicians working with
powerful computers and grinding up figures from elegant surveys.
Marketing research doesn't have to be fancy and expensive.

It can be done with peanuts, as one creative discount
merchandiser discovered. During a three-day promotion the
merchant offered customers . . . all the roasted peanuts you can
eat while shopping in our store. By the end of the promotion the
merchant had litter trails that provided information on the
traffic pattern in the store. Trampled peanut hulls littered the
most heavily traveled store aisles and heaped up in front of
merchandise displays of special interest to customers. By
studying the trails, the merchant learned where customers went in
the store and what they wanted.
_________________________________________________________________

WHAT IS MARKETING RESEARCH?

Basically, marketing research is just what the merchant did with
the peanuts. Find out what catches customers' attention by
observing their actions and drawing conclusions from what you
see. To put it more formally, in the words of the American
Marketing Association, marketing research is the systematic
gathering, recording, and analyzing of data about problems
relating to the marketing of goods and services.

Marketing research is an organized way of finding objective
answers to questions every business must answer to succeed. Every
small business owner-manager must ask

 * Who are my customers and potential customers?

 * What kind of people are they?

 * Where do they live?

 * Can and will they buy?

 * Am I offering the kinds of goods or services they want -- 
 at the best place, at the best time and in the right 
 amounts?

 * Are my prices consistent with what buyers view as the
 product's value?

 * Are my promotional programs working?

 * What do customers think of my business?

 * How does my business compare with my competitors?

Marketing research is not a perfect science; it deals with people
and their constantly changing likes, dislikes and behaviors,
which can be affected by hundreds of influences, many of which
cannot be identified. Marketing research does, however, try to
learn about markets scientifically: to gather facts and opinions
in an orderly, objective way; to find out how things are, not how
you think they are or would like them to be; to find out what
people want to buy, not just what you want to sell them.
_________________________________________________________________

WHY DO IT?

It's tough -- impossible -- to sell people what they don't want.
(Remember the New Coke problem?) That's pretty obvious. Just as
obvious is the fact that nothing could be simpler than selling
people what they do want. Big business does marketing research to
find out what consumers want. Small business needs market
research too.

For once, small business holds an edge. The giants hire experts
to define the mass market in which they sell. Owner-managers of a
small business are close to their customers; they can learn much
more quickly about customers' likes and dislikes and buying
habits.

Small business owners often have a feel for their customers --
their markets -- that comes from years of experience. But
experience can be a two-edged sword, as it includes a tremendous
mass of information acquired at random over a number of years,
information that may no longer be timely or relevant to making
selling decisions. In addition, some facts may be vague,
misleading impressions or folk tales of the everybody knows that
variety.

Marketing research focuses and organizes marketing information.
It ensures that such information is timely. It provides what you
need to

 * Reduce business risks.

 * Spot problems and potential problems in your current 
 market.

 * Identify and profit from sales opportunities.

 * Get basic facts about your market to help you make better
 decisions and set up plans of action.
_________________________________________________________________

HOW TO DO IT

You probably do some market research every day, without being
aware of it, in the course of your routine management activities.
You check returned items to see if there's some pattern. You run
into one of your old customers and ask her why she hasn't been in
lately. You look at a competitor's ad to see what that store is
charging for the same products you're selling.

Marketing research simply makes this process more orderly. It
provides a framework that lets you objectively judge the meaning
of the information you gather about your market. The flowchart
shows the steps in the marketing research process.
 _______________________________________________________

 Market Research: The Process

 Define the problem (or opportunity).

 Assess available information.
 Gather additional information, if required.

 1. Review internal records and files; interview
 employees.

 2. Collect outside data (secondary and primary).

 Organize and interpret data.

 Make a decision and take action.

 Assess the results of the action.
 _______________________________________________________

Define the Problem (or Opportunity)

Defining the problem (or opportunity), the first step of the
research process, is so obvious that it is often overlooked, yet
it is the most important step. You must be able to see beyond the
symptoms of a problem to get at the cause. Seeing the problem as
a sales decline is not defining a cause, it's listing a symptom.

To define your problem, list every possible influence that may
have caused it. Have your customers changed? Have their tastes
changed? List the possible causes. Eliminate any that you don't
think can be measured, because you won't be able to take any
action on them.

You must establish an idea of the problem, with causes that can
be objectively measured and tested. Look at your list of possible
causes frequently while you're gathering your facts, but don't
let it get in the way of the facts. (Incidentally, although this
publication speaks of problems, the same techniques can be used
to investigate potential opportunities.)

Assess Available Information

Once you've formally defined your problem, assess the information
that is immediately available. You may already have all the
information you need to determine if your hypothesis is correct,
and solutions to the problem may have become obvious in the
process of defining it. Stop there. You'll be wasting time and
money if you do further marketing research.

What if you aren't sure whether or not you need additional
information at this point? What if you'd feel more comfortable
with additional data? Here you must weigh the cost of more
information against its usefulness. You're up against a dilemma
similar to guessing in advance your return on your advertising
dollar. You don't know what return you'll get, or even if you'll
get a return. The best you can do is to balance that against the
cost of gathering more data to make a better informed decision.

Gather Additional Information

In gathering information, think cheap and stay as close to home
as possible. Before considering anything fancy, such as surveys
or field experiments, look at your own records and files. Look at
sales records, complaints, receipts and any other records that
can show you where you customers live and work, and how and what
they buy.

One small business owner found that addresses on cash receipts
allowed him to pinpoint customers in his market area. With this
kind of information he could cross-reference his customers'
addresses and the products they purchased, to check the
effectiveness of his advertising.

Your customers' addresses can tell you a lot about them. You can
pretty closely guess their life-styles by knowing their
neighborhoods. Knowing how they live can give you solid hints on
what they can be expected to buy.

Credit records are an excellent source of information about your
markets. In addition to customers' addresses, they give you
information about their jobs, income levels and marital status.
Offering credit is a multifaceted marketing tool, although one
with well-known costs and risks.

When you've finished checking through your records, turn to that
other valuable internal source of customer information: your
employees. Employees may be the best source of information about
customer likes and dislikes. They hear customers' minor gripes
about the store or service -- the ones the customers don't think
important enough to take to you as owner-manager. Employees are
aware of the items customers request that you may not stock. They
can probably supply good customer profiles from their day-to-day
contacts.

Outside Data

Once you've exhausted your internal sources for information about
your market, the next steps in the process are to do primary and
secondary research outside.

Secondary Research

Secondary research involves going to already published surveys,
books, magazines and the like and applying or rearranging the
information in them to bear on your particular problem or
potential opportunity.

Say, for example, that you sell tires. You might guess that sales
of new cars three years ago would have a strong effect on present
retail sales of tires. To test this idea you might compare new
car sales of six years ago with replacement tire sales from three
years ago.

Suppose you found that new tire sales three years ago were
10 percent of the new car sales three years before that.
Repeating this exercise with car sales five years ago and tire
sales two years ago, and so on, you might find that in each case
tire sales were about 10 percent of new car sales made three
years before. You could then logically conclude that the total
market for replacement tire sales in your area this year should
be about 10 percent of new car sales in your locality three years
ago.

Naturally, the more localized the figures you can find, the
better. For instance, there may be a national decline in new
housing starts, but if you sell new appliances in an area in
which new housing is booming, you obviously would want to base
your estimate of market potential on local conditions. Newspapers
and local radio and TV stations may be able to help you find this
information.

There are many sources of secondary research material. You can
find it in libraries, universities and colleges, trade and
general business publications, and newspapers. Trade associations
and government agencies are rich sources of information. Go to
your public library and ask for a copy of GALES' Directory.

Primary Research

Primary research on the outside can be as simple as asking
customers or suppliers how they feel about your store or service
firm or as complex as the surveys conducted by sophisticated
professional marketing research firms. Primary research includes
among its tools direct mail questionnaires, telephone or
on-the-street surveys, experiments, panel studies, test
marketing, behavior observation and so on.

Primary research is often divided into reactive and nonreactive
research. The peanut shell study at the beginning of this
publication is an example of nonreactive primary research: it was
a way to see how real people behaved in a real market situation
(in this case, how they moved through the store and which
displays attracted their attention) without influencing that
behavior even accidentally.

Reactive research (surveys, interviews, questionnaires) is what
most people think of when they hear the words marketing research.
It is best left to the experts, as you may not know the right
questions to ask. There's also the danger that people won't want
to hurt your feelings when you ask their opinions about your
business, or they'll answer questions the way they think they are
expected to answer rather than telling you how they really feel.
If you can't afford high-priced marketing research services, ask
nearby college or university business schools for help.

Organize and Interpret Data

After collecting the data you must organize it into meaningful
information. Go back to your definition of the problem and
compare it with your findings. Prioritize the data with the most
significant at the top.

 * What strategies are suggested?

 * How can they be accomplished?

 * How are they different from what I am doing now?

 * What current activities should be increased?

 * What current activities must I drop or decrease in order to
 devote adequate resources to new strategies?

Make a Decision and Take Action

Prioritize each possible strategy from the standpoint of 

 * Immediate goal to be achieved

 * Cost to implement

 * Time to accomplish

 * Measurement of success

Your research may have suggested ten possible strategies. Select
the two or three that appear to have the greatest impact
potential or are most easily achievable.

For each strategy, develop tactics.

 * Staff responsibility

 * Steps necessary

 * Budget allocation

 * Time line with deadlines for accomplishing strategy steps

 * Progress measures

For example, if a company newsletter on industry trends is
selected as a strategy, the tactics would include

 * Appointment of an editor

 * Product decisions

 -- Frequency (monthly, quarterly, annual)

 -- Format (size, number of pages, design, paper, ink,
 graphics/illustrations)

 -- Production (in-house desktop publishing or commercial
 printer)

 -- Distribution (mailing lists -- customers, suppliers,
 chamber of commerce, trade groups -- or piggybacking on
 other publications such as newspapers)

 * Budget allocation

 * Controls (content and accuracy approval)

 * Time lines (for implementing each tactic; for completing 
 each edition)

 * Progress measures (return survey with first edition, mailed
 survey following first edition, telephoned survey)

Make a final decision on the strategies and go to work on the
tactics.

Assess the Results of the Action

Analyze your progress measures. If adjustments are appropriate,
make them. At the conclusion of the time you have allotted for
accomplishing your goal, take a hard look at the results.

 * Did you achieve your goal?

 * Should the decision be renewed on a larger scale?

If you are disappointed in the results, determine why the plan
went awry.

What You Can Do

Marketing research is limited only by your imagination. Much of
it you can do with very little cost except your time and mental
effort. Here are a few examples of techniques small business
owner-managers have used to gather information about their
customers.

Discover Your Local Library

Large companies generally have a wealth of data available on many
business problems. Smaller companies often ignore such data
because they are unaware of its existence, although it may be as
close as next door.

The local public, trade school, college or university library is
a prime source of inexpensive, targeted information about
business topics such as competition, the law, government,
society, culture, economics and technology.

Although the resources of public libraries vary widely, the
library's four walls and the size of its collection do not limit
its service. New information technologies have changed libraries
dramatically. Moreover, many academic libraries are open to the
public.

A typical library includes reference and general books,
periodicals and possibly one or more specialized collections.
Several tools and services help one find material.

The first is the card catalog, either in a system of individual
cards or in a computer. The systems list books by author, title
and subject, periodicals by title and subject. Call numbers
indicate the item's location.

Indexes help find information in leading magazines, journals or
newspapers. Among these are the Business Index, the Business
Periodical Index, the Public Affairs Information Service
Bulletins (PAS), the Statistical Reference Index, the Wall Street
Journal Index, NewsBank, the American Statistics Index and the
Index to U.S. Government Periodicals.

These indexes list articles according to subject headings; they
supply the title and author as well as the publication title,
date and page number. Indexes are available in several formats
including printed versions, optical disks, film, CD-ROMS (compact
disk read-only memory) and on-line data bases.

General information and statistical data can be found under
various subject headings, such as small business marketing,
marketing to Hispanics, marketing to young adults, household
income of the elderly and export marketing.

Information about industries and individual companies can also be
found under Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) headings.
SIC is a uniform coding system developed by the federal
government to classify establishments according to economic
activity. Codes for specific industries are listed in the
Standard Industrial Classification Manual. Four-digit codes
define specific industries such as SIC 2653, corrugated and solid
fiber box manufacturers, or SIC 5812, eating establishments. Most
federal government economic data and many business and industrial
directories use SIC codes.

If a local library's collection does not contain the material you
need, an interlibrary loan may be available. Most libraries are
linked with other libraries, which permits patrons to borrow
books and get photocopies of articles. At larger libraries, a
computerized telephone hookup to distant data bases can provide a
wealth of information in minutes.

License Plate Analysis

In many states license plates provide information about where the
car's owner lives. You can generally get information from state
agencies on how to extract this information from license numbers.
By taking down the numbers of cars parked in your location you
can estimate your trading area. Knowing where your customers live
can help you aim your advertising for good effect. Or you might
analyze your competitors' customers and direct your advertising
to try to win them for your business.

Telephone Number Analysis

Like license numbers, telephone numbers can tell you the areas in
which people live. You can get customers' telephone numbers on
sales slips, from checks and credit slips and the like.

Coded Coupons and Tell Them Joe Sent You Broadcast Ads

You can check the relative effectiveness of your advertising
media by coding coupons and by including phrases in your
broadcast ads that customers must use to get a discount on a sale
item. This technique may reveal what areas your customers are
drawn from. Where they read or heard about the discount offered
in your ads will also give you information about their tastes.

People Watching

You can learn a great deal about your customers just by looking
at them. How are they dressed? How old do they appear to be? Are
they married? Do they have children with them? Most
owner-managers get a feel for their clientele in just this way.
Run a tally sheet for a week that keeps track of what you're able
to tell about your customers from simple outward clues. It might
confirm what you've assumed, or there might be surprises.

Customer Comment Cards

Give cards to your customers that solicit their opinions about
your business. Ask customers to drop the cards off before they
leave or mail them to you. Analysis of this information can help
you spot potential problems and identify opportunities to
increase customer satisfaction.

Do, Don't Overdo

The key to effective marketing research is neither technique nor
data -- it's useful information. That information must be timely;
your customers' likes and dislikes shift constantly. You'll never
know everything about a particular problem anyway. It's much
better to get there on time with a little than too late with a
lot. If you spend too much time gathering too much data, going
for a sure thing, you may find your marketing research is nothing
but trash.
_________________________________________________________________

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The information presented here is necessarily selective and no
slight is intended toward material not mentioned. Publishers are
invited to notify the SBA of relevant publications and other
sources of information for possible inclusion in future editions.
This bibliography may be reprinted but not used to indicate
approval or disapproval by the SBA of any private organization,
product or service.

U.S. Government Publications

The publications cited in this section are books and pamphlets
issued by federal agencies and listed under the issuing agency.
Some are free; others cost a nominal fee. GPO (Government
Printing Office) publications can be ordered from the
Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402. When ordering a GPO publication, give the
title and series number of the publication and the name of the
agency. You can also order by calling (202) 783-3238. Contact GPO
for current prices.

Publications should be requested by title and any identifying
number. Most libraries maintain listings of currently available
federal publications. Some keep selected government publications
for ready reference through the Federal Depository Library
System.

U.S. Small Business Administration
Washington, DC 20416

SBA issues a wide range of management and technical publications
designed to help owner-managers and prospective owners of small
businesses. For general information about the SBA, its policies
and assistance programs, contact your nearest SBA office.

The Small Business Directory, a listing of currently available
publications and videotapes, can be obtained free from SBA, P.O.
Box 15434, Fort Worth, TX 76119, or from any of SBA's field
offices. The directory contains a form that can be used to order
a particular title.

Bureau of the Census
Department of Commerce Washington, DC 20233
(Contact the Public Information Office for a more complete
listing of publications.)

Catalog of United State Census Publications. Published monthly
with quarterly and annual cumulations. A guide to census data and
reports. This catalog contains descriptive lists of publications,
data files and special tabulations.

Census of Business. Compiled every five years (years ending in 2
and 7). Organized in the following three units:

 Census of Retail Trade (1987). This report presents statistics
 for more than a hundred different types of retail 
 establishments by state, standard metropolitan statistical 
 area (SMSA), county and community (population over 2,500). It
 includes data on the number of outlets, total sales, 
 employment and payroll. Updated each month by Monthly Retail
 Trade.

 Census of Wholesale Trade (1987). Statistics for more than 150
 types of wholesaler categories. The data detail the number of
 establishments, payroll, warehouse space, expenses, end-of-
 year inventories, legal form of organization and payroll.
 Updated each month by Monthly Wholesale Trade.

 Census of Selected Services (1987). Provides statistics 
 similar to those reported by the Census of Retail Trade for
 retail service organizations such as auto repair centers and
 hotels. Does not include information on real estate, insurance
 or the professions. Updated monthly by Monthly Selected 
 Service Receipts.

Census of Manufacturers (1987). Compiled every five years (years
ending in 2 and 7). Reports on 450 different classes of 
manufacturing industries. Data for each industry include
information on capital expenditures, value added, number of
establishments, employment data, material costs, assets, rent and
inventories. Updated yearly by the Annual Survey of
Manufacturers.

Census of Population (1990). Compiled every ten years. Presents
detailed data on population characteristics of states, counties,
SMSAs and census tracts. Demographics data reported include age,
sex, race, marital status, family composition, employment income,
level of education and occupation. Updated annually by the 
Current Population Report.

Statistical Abstract of the United States. Published annually.
This is a useful source for finding current and historical
statistics about various aspects of American life. Contents
include statistics on income, prices, education, population, law
enforcement, environmental conditions, local government, labor
force, manufacturing and many other topics.

State and Metropolitan Area Data Book. A Statistical Abstract
supplement (1986). Presents a variety of information on states
and metropolitan areas in the United States, on subjects such as
area, population, housing, income, manufacturers, retail trade
and wholesale trade.

County and City Data Book. Published every five years to
supplement the Statistical Abstract. Contains 144 statistical
items for each county and 148 items for cities with a population
of 25,000 or more. Data is organized by region, division, state
and SMSA for income, population, education, employment, housing,
banking, manufacturing, capital expenditures, retail and
wholesale sales, and other factors.

County Business Patterns. Annual. Contains a summary of data on
number and type (by SIC number) of business establishments as
well as their employment and taxable payroll. Data are presented
by industry and county.

Other Agencies

Measuring Markets: A Guide to the Use of Federal and State
Statistical Data. GPO. Provides federal and state government data
on population, income, employment, sales and selected taxes.
Explains how to interpret the data to measure markets and
evaluate opportunities.

Selected Publications to Aid Business and Industry. Listing of
federal statistical sources useful to business and industry.
Statistics of Income. Annual. Published by the Internal Revenue
Service of the Treasury Department. This publication consists of
data collected from tax returns filed by corporations, sole
proprietorships and partnerships, and individuals.

State Statistical Abstract. Every state publishes a statistical
abstract, almanac or economic data book with statistics for the
state, its counties and cities. A complete list of these
abstracts is in the back of each volume of the Statistical
Abstract and Measuring Markets.
_________________________________________________________________

APPENDIX: INFORMATION RESOURCES

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

The SBA offers an extensive selection of information on most
business management topics, from how to start a business to
exporting your products.

SBA has offices throughout the country. Consult the U.S. 
Government section in your telephone directory for the office
nearest you. SBA offers a number of programs and services,
including training and educational programs, counseling services,
financial programs and contract assistance. Ask about

 * SCORE: Counselors to Americas Small Business, a 
 national organization sponsored by SBA of over 11,000
 volunteer business executives who provide free
 counseling, workshops and seminars to prospective and
 existing small business people. Free online counseling
 and training at www.score.org. 

 * Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), sponsored
 by the SBA in partnership with state governments, the
 educational community and the private sector. They
 provide assistance, counseling and training to 
 prospective and existing business people.

 * Womens Business Centers (WBCs), sponsored by the SBA 
 in partnership with local non-government organizations
 across the nation. Centers are geared specifically to 
 provide training for women in finance, management,
 marketing, procurement and the Internet.

For more information about SBA business development programs and
services call the SBA Small Business Answer Desk at 1-800-U-ASK-
SBA (827-5722) or visit our website, www.sba.gov. 

Other U.S. Government Resources

Many publications on business management and other related topics
are available from the Government Printing Office (GPO). GPO
bookstores are located in 24 major cities and are listed in the
Yellow Pages under the bookstore heading. Find a Catalog of
Government Publications at http://catalog.gpo.gov/F 

Many federal agencies offer Websites and publications of interest 
to small businesses. There is a nominal fee for some, but most 
are free. Below is a selected list of government agencies that 
provide publications and other services targeted to small 
businesses. To get their publications, contact the regional 
offices listed in the telephone directory or write to the 
addresses below:

Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC)
Http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov 
1-800-333-4636
The CIO offers a consumer information catalog of federal
publications.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Publications Request
Washington, DC 20207
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/pubs/pub_idx.html 
The CPSC offers guidelines for product safety requirements.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
12th Street and Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250
http://www.usda.gov 
The USDA offers publications on selling to the USDA. Publications
and programs on entrepreneurship are also available through 
county extension offices nationwide.

U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC)
Office of Business Liaison
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20230
http://www.osec.doc.gov/obl/ 
DOC's Business Liaison Center provides listings of business
opportunities available in the federal government. This service
also will refer businesses to different programs and services in
the DOC and other federal agencies.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
1 Choke Cherry Road
Rockville, MD 20857
http://www.workplace.samhsa.gov 
Helpline: 1-800-workplace. Provides information on Employee
Assistance Programs Drug, Alcohol and other Substance Abuse.

U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)
Employment Standards Administration
200 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20210
The DOL offers publications on compliance with labor laws.

U.S. Department of Treasury
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20230
http://www.irs.gov/business/index.html 
The IRS offers information on tax requirements for small
businesses.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Small Business Ombudsman
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20480
http://epa.gov/sbo
Hotline: 1-800-368-5888
The EPA offers more than 100 publications designed to help small
businesses understand how they can comply with EPA regulations.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville MD 20857-0001
http://www.fda.gov
Hotline: 1-888-463-6332
The FDA offers information on packaging and labeling requirements
for food and food-related products.

For More Information

A librarian can help you locate the specific information you need
in reference books. Most libraries have a variety of directories,
indexes and encyclopedias that cover many business topics. They
also have other resources, such as

 * Trade association information
 Ask the librarian to show you a directory of trade
 associations. Associations provide a valuable network
 of resources to their members through publications 
 and services such as newsletters, conferences and
 seminars.

 * Books
 Many guidebooks, textbooks and manuals on small
 business are published annually. To find the names of
 books not in your local library check Books In Print,
 a directory of books currently available from
 publishers.

 * Magazine and newspaper articles
 Business and professional magazines provide 
 information that is more current than that found in
 books and textbooks. There are a number of indexes to
 help you find specific articles in periodicals.

 * Internet Search Engines

In addition to books and magazines, many libraries offer free
workshops, free access to computers and the Internet, lend skill-building tapes and have catalogues and brochures describing continuing education opportunities.
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