Sources of Information For Entrepreneurship Development

Entrepreneurs need information every time because they need to be reminded about the functional areas that have to do with their enterprise for updates and also to be efficient and effective.

Information is very important and is also a veritable source for entrepreneurship development. Are you an entrepreneur looking for sources of information so you can keep updated with the latest trend going on in business?

You can have information in the form of survey, articles, books, search engines, data, references, newsletters (but you have to subscribe to newsletters). You can also get information from friends, partners, associates, customers, relatives, and so on. As an entrepreneur, you need the information to operate your business successfully.

The types of information an entrepreneur need to develop:

• Marketing information: Every entrepreneur consciously and unconsciously engage in marketing, anyone who has a business engages in marketing so you need marketing information to know the marketing approach that you will adopt for your business to develop.

• Financial information: Most entrepreneurs overlook the need for financial information which should not be overlooked because you need to know the finances relating to your type of business.

• Technical information: Every business needs to be approached technically in an intelligent way hence the need for technical information.

• Legal information: Legal information helps entrepreneurs to know the legal implication of the business they are doing. Whether it is a small, medium, or large scale enterprise, they all have their various legal implications therefore legal information is very paramount in entrepreneurship development.

The sources of information for entrepreneurship development are:

(1) The library

We have primary sources of information and secondary sources of information, the library is a primary source of information for entrepreneurship development. Government agencies, research institutes, large corporations, colleges, and universities have libraries with a section for entrepreneurs and the public.

Libraries are a storehouse of information that is useful for entrepreneurs and business owners based on the content of the library.

(2) Print sources

This is another source of information for entrepreneurship development. Here, we have various print sources as we all know that print covers several materials. Under print, we have, business books, periodicals, microfilms, newsletters, government reports [both state and federal government], and so on.

The most common sources under print are books and periodicals which are mostly found in public & business libraries and bookshops. The government also prints books that are also useful for entrepreneurship. An example is the U.S government printing office.

These books and periodicals provide information on human resources management, product development, finance management, and other things that have to do with starting and developing business.

We also have newspapers and magazines that deal with business and entrepreneurs providing them information on every aspect of the business, from creating a good business plan to developing your business and enterprise.

Under print sources, we also have trade journals, brochures, and pamphlets on business owners and entrepreneurs.

There are articles written in newspapers and magazines that have to do with entrepreneurship, where you can also read about the latest development in business and updates on entrepreneurship.

(3) Online sources

This is where ‘internet’ comes in, the internet is a source of information for entrepreneurship development. Internet is one of the most powerful and useful sources of information for entrepreneurs looking at the century we are in and also, the internet is more accessible than other sources.

There are internet newsgroups, online newspapers, online magazines, online libraries, and so on. Likewise, you can use the internet to conduct research, to find data and information related to your business using search engines-Google, Ask, etc.

(4) Industrial data and information

Industrial data and information provide information from other entrepreneurs and their businesses especially those businesses that are similar to yours, this information helps in comparing your business to others for you to know your weaknesses and strength. You can get information about their businesses from trade associations and government agencies.

(5) Employees and other business owners

You will be surprised to know that even your employees are sources of information for your business to develop and that is why it is good to listen to your employees, do not feel superior to them.

You can ask your employees for advice on one issue or the other, the advice they might give you might even be far better than what you had in mind before.

You can discuss with other business owners especially when your business is facing the same problem the other person too is facing or the person has faced before, the person might even share with you how he overcame his issue which might be useful for you also.

As an entrepreneur, you can take leverage of these sources of information for updating yourself and following the latest trends so you won’t be left behind.