Reference USA - Database to search for businesses

Reference USA is a well-known database that is available on all of our Saint Louis Public Library reference computers.  I like to recommend our entrepreneurs to use this database when they are beginning to write their business plan. Why you may ask do I recommend it? Because you have the ability to use North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to search for your type of business.

Before you start using this database, you must decide if you want to create a custom search. I personally recommend doing so, as you will then get exactly the type of business you are searching for as well as the location. I suggest selecting the geographic location (by zip code) and then by NAICS code. If you put in the city and state it will over ride your search by zip code.

Searching by zip code, combined with the NAICS code, provides the entrepreneur with a list of all the names of potential competitors. Once you have selected custom search for geographic location and NAICS code, you then add your specific search.

By selecting the specific result, you will find a screen that provides much, much more information. On the detailed screen you will have the following information to use: Competitors, names of executives, along with their gender and contact information, number of employees, volume of sales, if it is a head office location, and even articles where that company was in the news.

When you have your Saint Louis Public Library card and four digit pin number you can conveniently access this database from outside the Library.  First select "Online Learning and Reference," then select "Databases."

If you have any questions about using this database, please do not hesitate to give us a call.

Book Review: The Lemonade Stand

The Lemonade Stand: What Every Entrepreneur Should Know to Succeed in Starting and Running Any Business by Ara Bagdasarian and Nick Gustavsson, 192 pages

The Lemonade Stand focuses on entrepreneurs and starting small businesses. As in other business books, the authors offer up a list of principles for their "Lemonade Stand" method; what makes this one different is that Bagdasarian and Gustavsson have some fairly unorthodox principles, including forgetting about a business plan and investors, and not setting out to compete. When they explain themselves, these actually make sense, especially for someone with a small business in mind (they often use the example of someone starting a lawn-care business or car wash). There's also a LOT of emphasis on optimism and learning from problems, which are probably pretty good ideals for everyone, not just entrepreneurs.

What I didn't particularly like about this book was the fact that they pushed the "lemons into lemonade" analogy a little too hard; it's not a bad metaphor to use, but it gets old quickly. I wish they'd introduced the idea at the beginning and maybe touched on it again toward the end rather than referring to problems as "lemons that must be squeezed" on nearly every page of the book.

On the whole, however, this was an easy-to-read book with some good ideas. Anyone thinking of starting a business would probably appreciate some of what the authors are trying to say.

Business News Roundup

Governor Jay Nixon announces he's matching $10 million in funds for University of Missouri-St. Louis' Business School (St Louis Post-Dispatch)


Give STL day surpasses $2 million in donations (St. Louis Business Journal)


Missouri jury awards woman $77 million for mismanaging funds in case against Wells Fargo (Business Ledger)


Bridge Bread will be opening a storefront on Cherokee Street in South St Louis City, set for June 1! (Sorkins Directory of Business and Government)

Book Review: Outlaw

Outlaw: Fight for Your Customers and Sell Without Fear by Trent Leyshan, 165 pages

In Outlaw, Leyshan offers tips on being a better salesman, regardless of what you're selling. The book attempts to cover everything from preparing for a pitch to presenting the right personality to secure sales to beating burnout.

However, it's hard for me to muster any enthusiasm for the book. It's oddly structured, with short sections that don't logically follow each other, set apart by random quotes from everyone from Albert Einstein to Zig Ziglar. Occasionally, there are also short stories of "real life Outlaws," though only one, Ned Kelly, is an actual outlaw (sorry, Richard Branson, you don't count). Leyshan also offers random defining characteristics of "Outlaw" salespeople, though I never got a whole picture.

There is some useful information in here, but it's not worth fighting through the paragraphs full of inspirational affirmations (I swear Leyshan just looked at posters on office walls whenever he got writer's block) to find that info. All in all, there's not much to recommend this book.

Business News Roundup

Missouri House wants to make winning work bias claims harder (Rolla Daily News)

City says it was unaware of McKee's alleged defaults (St Louis Business Journal)

St Louis sewer project could bring in much-needed jobs (Huffington Post)

Advertising: Who, What, Where

From Tom Winkelmann of Central Library:

The St. Louis Public Library has a new database which is available on the Library’s in-house Reference Computers at every branch. 

This Database is the former print SRDS.  SRDS is the acronym – Standard Rate & Data Service.

Many times new or old business owners need to forecasts an advertising budget.   SRDS is the “go to” source for newspaper, radio, television and cable rates.  For example if you want to advertise on radio in DMA (Designated Market Area) in St. Louis Metro Area – this database list the metro radio stations in alpha order.  Within the radio station listing, SRDS is a great tool to see station formats (oldies, jazz, all talk, etc.)  Also, it gives demographics – the “who’ is the audience market the station is targeting – young adults, seniors, or all age groups.  Once you find a station that parallels your new customer strategy – users of SRDS can locate rates for different times of the day and station contacts.

For newspapers, SRDS can give ad rates for the St. Louis Post Dispatch, River Front Times, or even smaller publications such as the Kirkwood – Webster Times.

Finally, SRDS gives updated circulation figures.

So, stop in one of the St. Louis Public Libraries and put SRDS to work for your advertising plans.

Book Review: Mash-up!

Mash-up! How to Use Your Multiple Skills to Give You an Edge, Make Money, and Be Happier by Ian Sanders and David Sloly, 246 pages

In this book, Sanders and Sloly argue that the way businesses run today, people need to have versatile skills, allowing them to switch gears and become experts in fields that vary widely. For example, one of the authors is a business consultant and a hypnotherapist, as well as an author and lecturer. Throughout this quick read, the authors present different ways to branch out into new fields without dropping current jobs or projects, as well as ways to market yourself as someone who specializes in multiple fields. Along the way, they introduce the reader to several "mashers" who are juggling multiple jobs at once.

This is certainly intriguing, and they're definitely right that versatile skills are important in today's business world. And maybe I'm just looking at this from the perspective of someone who is lucky enough to have a job where I learn something new every day and get to work on a variety of projects throughout the day, week, and year, but I think they're a bit narrow-minded to say that the best way to "mash" is to have different jobs and job titles at the same time. There's definitely a bit of a sneer when it comes to the idea of someone staying in the same job, or same type of job, for years and years; instead, I would assume that new projects and skills are somewhat of a requirement if you want to stay in a field for any length of time. Sanders and Sloly's ideas of "mashing" seem a bit more suited to those who simply can't settle down, or just haven't found a job they love.

That said, this book will definitely appeal to and be useful to entrepreneurs, freelancers, and others who like the idea of a hyphenate life. It also has some pretty cool ideas that can be applied to those of us who are good with just the one job title, especially their system of ranking the various qualities of a project/job (On a scale of 1-10, how much do you love it? How annoying are the people you work for and with? Are you getting enough out of it financially? etc.) Like I said before, it's a quick read, and as long as you can get past their Britishisms (Whilst? Seriously?), it's worth a skim.