Is business ownership for you? Do you have a viable business idea?
If you don’t already have a business idea, browse the collection of guides for starting specific businesses found at the Business & Reference Center or search our catalog. Search online for trend information, including Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Business Ideas” section.
A SWOT analysis can be a useful tool to help you decide if entrepreneurship is the right fit for you. SCORE provides a free SWOT template, which you can discuss with a SCORE mentor.
Library Databases
-
First Research – First Research provides broad industry trend information. Review industry profiles, discover industry websites & associations, and track industry drivers.
-
SimplyAnalytics – Use SimplyAnalytics to research the demographics in your area. Start thinking about your target customers.
Start Networking!
Sign up for updates from Cultivate Lancaster, where you can meet and network with aspiring and successful entrepreneurs. Connect with other small networking groups for your industry or interests!
Book Recommendations on Leadership
Radical Candor by Kim Scott
Call Number: 658.409 SCO
ISBN: 9781250103505
Publication Date: 2017-03-14
From the time we learn to speak, we’re told that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. When you become a manager, it’s your job to say it–and your obligation. Author Kim Scott was an executive at Google and then at Apple, where she worked with a team to develop a class on how to be a good boss.
Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder by Jim Clifton; Sangeeta Bharadwaj Badal
Call Number: 658.11 CLI
ISBN: 9781595620828
Publication Date: 2014-09-30
Entrepreneurial StrengthsFinder delves into the psychology of the entrepreneur. Gallup research shows that decisions and actions, influenced by the personality of the entrepreneur, affect the survival and growth of the venture.
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Call Number: 658.4092 SAN
ISBN: 9780385349949
Publication Date: 2013-03-11
Sheryl Sandberg reignited the conversation around women in the workplace. Sandberg is chief operating officer of Meta Platforms. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TED talk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto. Lean In combines personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can.
Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim; Renée Mauborgne
Call Number: 658.802 KIM
ISBN: 9781591396192
Publication Date: 2005-02-01
In a book that challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success, Kim and Mauborgne argue that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than a hundred years and 30 industries, the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors, but from creating “blue oceans”– Untapped new market spaces ripe for growth.
Navigate through the Toolkit by clicking the links below. If you have any questions, click the Chat box or give the Library a call!
