Starting a Business

Starting a Business in Florida

Anyone interested in starting a business in Florida should consult one of these two books: How to Start a Business in Florida by Mark Warda or How to Start a Business in Florida part of the SmartStart Series.

Both cover a wide range of topics including business structures, licensing and permits, financing, taxes, labor issues and marketing. They also provide sample forms.

If you are interested in forming a corporation in Florida, see How to Form a Corporation in Florida by Mark Warda.

These general guides discuss forming a nonprofit corporation and some of the legalities of a small business: How to Form a Nonprofit Corporation by Anthony Mancuso and Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business by Fred Steingold.

Writing a Business Plan

The business plan is one of the most important considerations when starting or expanding a business. The elements of a business plan include the legal structure of the business, the type of business, for example merchandising, retail, or service-to list a few.

For general guidance on preparing a business plan, consult books such as Business Plans for Dummies or Business Plans that Work for Your Small Business.

If, however, you need examples of successful business plans use Business Plans Handbook. This multivolume reference set contains actual business plans for various types of businesses. The Business Plans Handbook eBook is available through the Gale Virtual Reference Library. A print version of the set can be found on the 4th floor of the Orlando Public Library.

Legal, Finance, & Taxes

Small business entrepreneurs may also need to consult books about small business finance and taxes.

In addition, the Library has resources such as financial ratios, industry surveys, and demographics to help you prepare a business plan:

Demographics & Marketing

Local

Demographic and marketing information often involve statistics such as population projections, change from year to year, and lifestyles-how people spend their leisure time, and how people spend their income.

Demographic resources are available to assist with critical decisions such as business start-up, developing a business plan, grant proposals, selecting a business location and marketing and advertising.

Questions to consider: How narrow or how wide is your search for demographics?

Demographic information is available at the local, state, national and international levels.

Data may overlap. For example, national data sources may also include state and local information.
One can use numerous sources to obtain information.
Remember to cite your sources.

Databases that provide demographics, marketing and general information:

Business Index ASAP - Provides bibliographic references, abstracts or full text of articles from more than 800 business, management, and trade publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Asian Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times.
Demographics Now - A powerful online source for census, household, consumer expenditure and income information. Demographics Now can deliver data in a variety of sizes from a Statewide level down to census tract and zip code level.
Reference USA - Provides detailed information on more than 12.8 million U.S. businesses; 120 million U.S. residents.
Simply Map - Use the latest demographic, business and marketing data to create thematic maps and reports showing information for a specific location or multiple locations.
Small Business Resource Center - Offers resources and information about starting and operating a business. Topics include business plans, accounting, taxation, human resources, management, and more.
World Almanac - Fundamental reference resource.

Websites with Demographics

City of Orlando: http://www.cityoforlando.net/
Orange County: http://www.orangecountyfl.net/
SCORE: http://www.scoreorlando.org/
U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/

BEBR (Bureau of Economic and Business Research) at the University of Florida publishes numerous statistical reports. The Florida County Perspectives provides detailed data for a single county. The Orlando Public Library retains current and previous reports for Central Florida counties: Orange, Lake, Seminole, and Osceola.

Other BEBR reports available at the Library include:

State

The Florida Statistical Abstract is published annually by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) at the University of Florida. It is a good starting point for state data. It provides social and economic statistics on Florida and its counties. Its sources are the U.S. Census and other data from State, Federal, and private agencies.

The Complete Economic and Demographic Data Source, published by Woods & Poole Economics Inc., contains data and projections for all counties, states, metropolitan areas, and regions in the U.S. The State Profile provides data for all counties and metropolitan areas in a state. Significant aspects of this source are that it also provides historical data from 1970 and projections to 2030.
Data includes:
Population, Race, Age, Employment by industry, Earnings by industry, Personal income Household data, Retail sales by business type, Wealth index.

The Demographics USA: County Edition is an excellent source for marketing and business planning. In addition to population statistics, buying power index, and effective buying income, this source provides retail data including the number of retail establishments and retail sales by store groups and merchandise line at the county level. It gives metropolitan and demographic area rankings for specific characteristics. You may therefore identify geographic areas that match characteristics of your product or service.

Marketing statistics
Covers population (including race, ethnicity), age/sex groups,
Household data
Effective buying income
Retail sales including number of establishments
Buying power index
Occupation/employment data

National

Statistical Abstract of the United States

Provides statistics on U.S. social and economic conditions
Includes some international data
Gives references for sources of other data from government and private agencies
Census Bureau data book

Community Sourcebook of Zip Code Demographics

Zip Code Demographics - Information for each zip code in the United States.
TABLE A: Population Change,
TABLE B: Population Composition
TABLE C: Income
TABLE D: Spending Potential Indices
Business Data for Zip Codes
Maps

International

International demographic and marketing data are available from sources such as European Marketing Data and Statistics. This publication provides demographic and consumer data for European countries. Data includes population, consumer spending patterns, market sizes, advertising, health and living standards, economic indicators, banking and finance, and many other variables. Tables present historic as well as current data.

International Marketing Data and Statistics provides data for countries in Asia, North America, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. The format is similar to European Marketing Data and Statistics.

Advertising

Marketing and advertising are important aspects of business start-up or expansion. Marketing requires knowledge of consumer trends such as income, housing, households, or labor force. OCLS has numerous sources to help you find the information you need to perform your market research.

Standard Rate & Data Service (SRDS) publishes many popular marketing and advertising sources. The Lifestyle Market Analyst is an annual publication that provides demographic, geographic, and lifestyle data. It gives profiles for designated market areas (DMA) and some county markets, and ranks the top 10 lifestyles in each DMA. This source enables the entrepreneur to target potential customers-where they live, and more importantly how they spend their income and time.

SRDS also publishes sources available at the library that provide ad rates and contact information for the following broadcast and print media:
Newspapers, consumer magazines, direct marketing, business, tv & cable, radio, Hispanic Media & Market

Broadcasting resources such as Cable & Television Factbook provide directory information as well as market data for U.S. and Canadian TV and other broadcast and cable media. Includes TV markets ranked by size.

Sources of Supply

Whether you need waterproofing compounds or food products, find the resources you need to do business in directories such as

Chapter Index

Starting a Business