Small Businesses Make a Big Impact

In 2021, there were 32.5 million small businesses in the U.S., accounting for 65 percent of all net new jobs over the last  decade, reports the Small Business Administration (SBA).1 The SBA recorded 61.2 million small business employees in 2021.2 When their owners are looking for resources, they often turn to their public library. Point entrepreneurs in the right direction with best-in-class resources from Gale. 

All small businesses, and even big businesses, cycle through stages on their journey toward profitability. With our Small Business Roadmap, entrepreneurs can prepare for important milestones by receiving guidance on how to begin, what decisions need to be made and how to implement them, as well as general project management.  Download the Gale Business Suite brochure.

  • Small Business Stages

    IDEATE
    Button up your business idea. Envision a product or service that’s unique and fulfills a need or solves a problem. Additionally, self-reflect to ensure you have what it takes to start a new business. 

    MARKET RESEARCH & TARGET COMPETITION
    Thoroughly conduct market research. Examine the industry and trends in the market, research prospective customers and their buying habits, and identify competitors. Market research and competition analytics is an important process in small business stages. 

    DEVELOP A BUSINESS MODEL
    Create a business model and test it. On paper, build the high-level framework that your business will operate in. Test the model by determining when the business will be able to cover expenses and realize a profit. 

    STRUCTURE THE BUSINESS
    Sole proprietorship, partnership, or corporation? Research which one best suits your needs and move forward with registering your business or corporation. 

    ASSESS FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
    Whether raising capital for startup or expansion, your options include self-funding, equity (angel and venture), debt (loans from financial institutions), and crowdfunding to help assemble the appropriate balance of funds needed for your business. 

    IMPLEMENT A BUSINESS PLAN
    Define the strategies and goals of your business and how you will operate it profitably. This living document should be updated as needed and will answer many of the questions banks or investors will ask.

    BUSINESS LICENSES, INSURANCE & OTHER REGULATIONS
    Make sure your business is operating legally. It is advisable to seek legal counsel and authoritative resources.

    CREATE BRAND IDENTITY
    Plan your marketing strategy. Figure out what differentiates you from the rest of the market and capitalize on it.

    REFINE, MATURE & INNOVATE 
    Your business plan must evolve. Recognize what worked and what didn’t by digging into your business’s analytics. Pay attention to your executive statements, which will inform your decisions about new opportunities.

    View the Small Business Roadmap >>

ENGAGE YOUR SMALL BUSINESS COMMUNITY

Be sure to check out our specially-curated items to help you connect and support your business community. Visit our new page to access an 18-page action plan, view a recent webcast to hear two business librarians share insights and best practices, and download a glossary of terms to learn some business lingo.

 

1. U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy, 2021 Small Business Profile.
2. See note 1.

Resources

Gale Business: Plan Builder

Offers a step-by-step guide to starting and optimizing a business as well as how to manage it. The intuitive dashboard walks users through five areas of exploration to develop a plan focused on long-term success and the 400 highly-curated links to “Helpful Resources” inform and assist them in completing business planning activities.

Gale Business: DemographicsNow

Connects users with timely, actionable market research for small business communities as well as demographic, psychographic, and consumer insights in targeted geographic locations to support business- planning activities.

Gale Business: Entrepreneurship

Mapped to four key business stages—plan, fund, start, and manage—this resource covers all major areas of starting and operating a business. Now integrated with G Suite for Education and Microsoft Office 365 tools.

LegalForms with Law Digest

Empower patrons without law degrees to approach legal affairs with confidence. This valuable resource features state-specific, fill-in-the-blank forms and insight to help users understand and prepare for a wide range of legal topics, such as bankruptcy, landlord-tenant cases, name change, power of attorney, and living wills.

Gale Courses

More than 360 engaging, online, instructor-led courses focused on professional development, technology skills, and personal enrichment.

Gale Directory Library

A customizable collection of 23 digital directories that allows users to easily search, sort, export, and analyze content across the platform based on the information needs of their customers. Essential for business research and marketing, popular titles include Ward’s Business Directory, Brands and Their Companies, and Encyclopedia of Associations.

Gale Business: Insights

Gale Business: Insights delivers comprehensive business intelligence for connecting data to practical applications. Access daily updates and periodicals with this upgraded global database.

Gale Entrepreneurship Business Collection

Authoritative periodical content including 4,000 leading business and trade publications, updated daily. Complementing these titles is a selection of international, U.S., and regional news publications.

Business Plans Handbook

A collection of real-world sample business plans from diverse areas of today’s market, including manufacturing, retail and service industries. Non-profits are also featured. Only the company names and addresses have been changed. The series includes three volumes published annually, each with new content, and is available in print and on the Gale eBook platform.

Small Business Sourcebook

Six-volume guide to facilitate the startup, development, and growth of specific small businesses. Covers 340 specific small business profiles and more than 100 general small business topics; small business programs and assistance programs in the U.S., its territories, and Canadian provinces; and U.S. federal government agencies and offices specializing in small business issues, programs, and assistance. available in print and on the Gale eBook platform.