Research Guides: FASH 445: Fashion Entrepreneurship: Home

Featured Resource

How to Set up and Run a Fashion Label
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2012
A no-nonsense guide to running your own business, whether it is within the clothing, accessories, or footwear sectors. Packed with tips, case studies, and tasks to help you analyze yourself, your market, and your product, the book is designed for anyone wanting to start their own fashion business.

Become an Industry Expert

Industry Research Resources

IBISWorld
Provides access to industry analysis and research for U.S. industries categorized by NAICS, as well as select Chinese and Global industries organized by sector.
Plunkett Research Online
Analysis and market research for important industry sectors. Includes trend analysis, statistics, organizations, company profiles, information for job-seekers, and ability to create custom reports.
Dow Jones Factiva
Comprehensive, full-text up-to-the-minute news and business source from Dow Jones and Reuters. Includes national, international, and regional newspapers, both current content and archives, periodicals, podcasts, newswires, and more.
Statista
Statista consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources. Our Market Outlooks provide market sizes, forecasts, key consumer markets and relevant automotive markets for up to 150 countries.
Passport GMID (Global Market Information Database)
In-depth reports providing statistics and analysis on consumer, industry, and service markets around the world.
Business Source Complete
Bibliographic and full-text content from peer-reviewed business journals, covering all disciplines of business including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more.
ABI/INFORM Complete
Abstracts, full-text journals and periodicals on business, finance, and management topics. Includes all content in ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Dateline, and ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry. Includes full-text access to The Wall Street Journal.

Industry Research Guide
More resources for researching an industry.

Women's Wear Daily

Women's Wear Daily Archive
The entire run of Women's Wear Daily (1910-6 months ago), a fundamental resource for the fashion industry, with searchable text. For access to the most recent content, please see our current subscription to WWD.

WWD
Direct, online access to WWD, the “Bible” of the fashion industry. (limited to 10 concurrent users)

Target Consumer Research Tips

Research on the local Richmond/Richmond Metro Area consumer

Use these databases to map where consumers are by zip code/city, filtering for specific demographic and lifestyle data points:

SimplyAnalytics & Data Axle

Target Market: Definition, Purpose, Examples, Market Segments (Investopedia)

Consumer Behavior 2024 (RKMA Report)
Presents dozens of surveys analyzing consumer spending characteristics, behavioral responses, and preferences. Easy-to-read summaries of current research and other information useful for retailers, marketers, advertisers, and business consultants are presented.
Report includes data on consumer behavior in Virginia broken down by demographics

Get to Know Your Customers

Consumer Research Resources

Mintel
Full-text market research reports covering US and global consumer markets. Reports analyze market share, segmentation, and trends. Upon first login register with your VCU email address.
WARC
Global advertising and marketing trends, including market intelligence, case studies, conference reports, articles, expenditure data, profiles of major brand owners, and consumer insight.
SimplyAnalytics
Web-based mapping application that lets users create interactive maps, charts, and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data.
(5 concurrent users)
To save your data, please create a personal account using your VCU email address.

Maximum Simultaneous Users: 5
Data Axle
Data Axle, formerly ReferenceUSA, provides research on businesses including data summaries by neighborhood, city or state and by type or size of business. Users can conduct market research for similar or competitive businesses in a specific locality.
Statista
Statista consolidates statistical data on over 80,000 topics from more than 22,500 sources. Our Market Outlooks provide market sizes, forecasts, key consumer markets and relevant automotive markets for up to 150 countries.
Passport GMID (Global Market Information Database)
In-depth reports providing statistics and analysis on consumer, industry, and service markets around the world.
Business Source Complete
Bibliographic and full-text content from peer-reviewed business journals, covering all disciplines of business including marketing, management, accounting, banking, finance, and more.
ABI/INFORM Complete
Abstracts, full-text journals and periodicals on business, finance, and management topics. Includes all content in ABI/INFORM Global, ABI/INFORM Dateline, and ABI/INFORM Trade and Industry. Includes full-text access to The Wall Street Journal.

Consumer Research Guide
More resources for researching your consumers
Doing Consumer Research: A Resource Guide (Library of Congress)
This guide specifically focuses on resources useful for the business to consumer (B2C) industry, where individuals are the end users of a product or service. While this guide does not cover every resource, it does highlight commonly used sources and publishers of population and consumer data.
Trends.google.com
Google Trends is a website by Google that analyzes the popularity of top search queries in Google Search across various regions and languages.
Research Tip: Use to gauge consumer interest in products or brands

Consumer Demographics

Use SimplyAnalytics to generate custom maps and reports for any location in the US,
using demographic, business, and marketing data.

SimplyAnalytics
Web-based mapping application that lets users create interactive maps, charts, and reports using demographic, business, and marketing data.
To save your data, please create a personal account using your VCU email address.

Maximum Simultaneous Users: 5

SimplyAnalytics/Claritas Segment Details
Use the "Narrow Segments" tool to filter consumer profiles e.g. by income, education or lifestage group. Find relevant consumer types you identified in Simplyanalytics and aply them to your chosen location.

Use the Demographic Profiles module in Social Explorer to get a quick snapshot of
consumer demographic data based on geography (e.g. zip code).

Social Explorer
Easy access to current and historical census data and demographic information. Create maps and reports to illustrate, analyze, and understand demography and social change.

More Resources for Small Business Retailing

Entrepreneurship Research Guide
Includes links to Bizminer (financials and local market information)
U.S. Small Business Association - Learning Center
Info on creating a business plan, market research, managing employees and more.

Bizminer
Industry financial analysis and market trends for thousands of lines of business in national and local markets.

Bizstats.com
Free business statistics and financial ratios

Guide to Fashion Entrepreneurship
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2014
A comprehensive, step-by-step entrepreneurial action plan that investigates how fashion product concepts are created, branded, sourced, marketed, channeled, and merchandised.
Also in print: HD9940.A2 C36 2014
Advanced Fashion Technology and Operations Management
Call Number: ebook
Publication Date: 2017
Features extensive coverage across a range of relevant perspectives and topics, such as online shopping behavior, digital fashion, and e-commerce.

Market Research and Competitive Analysis (US Small Business Association)
Market research helps you find customers for your business. Competitive analysis helps you make your business unique. Combine them to find a competitive advantage for your small business.

Doing Business in Richmond, VA

Richmond Economic Development Authority
Thrive Resource Library
Info on starting and operating a business, funding and links to RVA-specific resources.

FASH 445: Fashion Entrepreneurship

Related Guides

Business Model Canvas

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Featured Resource

Become an Industry Expert

Women's Wear Daily

Target Consumer Research Tips

Target Consumer Research Tips

Get to Know Your Customers

Consumer Demographics

More Resources for Small Business Retailing

Doing Business in Richmond, VA