Market Research: Do-It-Yourself  

This guide is designed for MIT student-entrepreneurs and product developers who want to write a business plan but have little or no budget for professional market research services--hence do-it-yourself (DIY).

Business plans typically include:

• an industry overview summarizing the current status and outlook for an industry or sector

• an evaluation of the competitive environment including potential competitors   

• a market analysis with information on customer needs & target markets (consumer, b2b, institutional)

The guide lists sources for these types of information, along with tips for using industry codes and for finding market share & market size. 

Use of many of these resources is governed by license agreements which restrict use to the MIT community and to individuals who use the MIT Libraries.  Some of the resources require MIT Certificates both on and off campus.

last updated July 13, 2011

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To access all of the professional market research databases available at MIT Libraries, visit the Market Research guide.