FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Rosa Whitten
The Planning Shop
Tel: 650-289-9120
Email: Rosa@planningshop.com

WHERE DO I FIND THE NUMBERS? NEW HOW-TO GUIDE ANSWERS PERENNIAL BUSINESS QUESTION

The Planning Shop Launches Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need—Fast!
by Rhonda Abrams

PALO ALTO, CA, October 31, 2006 – More than three million new businesses are launched every year—and most face the same problem: Where do the entrepreneurs and investors find accurate data to help them understand their markets and competition, develop business plans, and raise money?

Recognizing the need for businesspeople to find information easily and quickly, The Planning Shop today launched Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need—Fast! the first simple, step-by-step guide to gathering critical business data.

“Finding reliable business data is a challenging task,” explains author Rhonda Abrams. “There’s either too little information—or too much. How does someone find the data they need and know that it’s accurate? Entrepreneurs are hungry for information that will ensure they’re making the right decisions. In a competitive market, they need immediate help finding this vital data that exists, and often for free.”

Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need—Fast! provides a step-by-step guided tour of all of the major business resources. It focuses on providing tools to find free information, whether for starting a new business or expanding an existing one. The book also covers essentials such as locating business databases, using public and university libraries, evaluating and organizing data, and advanced research techniques.

Working with a team of professionals, including industry and market experts and university reference librarians, author Rhonda Abrams developed a wide-ranging tutorial providing readers with time-saving techniques to find vital data such as market size, demographics, comprehensive company information, forecasts, and expert analysis. Ms. Abrams is a nationally syndicated columnist and CEO of The Planning Shop has developed hundreds of business plans, raised funds for start-ups, and spent more than 20 years advising entrepreneurs and business owners.

The 312-page book covers the following topics and more:

Using Libraries
How to make the most of a free resource
Evaluate Your Data
Analyzing and selecting the most trustworthy information
Business Research Databases
Use these resources to find valuable business data
Government Resources
A wealth of free business statistics at your fingertips
Media Websites
Mining the resources of the business, financial, industry and general press
Straight to the Numbers
Step-by-step guides to the best free and fee-based resources
Researching an Industry
Researching a Company
Research a Target Market

Molly Lavik, Practitioner Faculty of Marketing, Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management has this to say about the new book, “At last, a straightforward book that demystifies the process behind conducting effective business research. The Planning Shop has given business practitioners and students an incredibly useful tool to enable them to find accurate and timely information for business plans, academic papers, and other business uses. Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need—Fast! is the perfect companion to The Successful Business Plan, also by Rhonda Abrams, which I use in my classes. I’m excited to share this great book with my students.”

About Rhonda Abrams
Rhonda Abrams writes the nation’s most widely circulated column on entrepreneurship. Her columns appear weekly in over 100 newspapers and USAToday.com as well as Inc.com and Costco magazine. She is the author of more than seven books on entrepreneurship, including the bestselling Successful Business Plan, Six-Week Start-Up, and What Business Should I Start? all of which have made Nielsen’s Bookscan Top 50 business bestseller list.

About The Planning Shop
The Planning Shop, located in Palo Alto, California, specializes in business resources for entrepreneurs. Their books and products are based on years of real-world experience and sharing secrets and strategies from entrepreneurs, CEOs, investors, and lenders. The Planning Shop’s books have been used to launch, run, and grow successful businesses in every industry.

Book Details
Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need—Fast!
Publisher: The Planning Shop
Author: Rhonda Abrams
312 pages
$29.95
Copyright, 2006
ISBN: 0-9740801-3-6

Cover and page images available at the following link: www.planningshop.com/about/media_SBR.asp

EDITORS: If you would like more information about this topic or to schedule an interview with Rhonda Abrams, please contact Rosa Whitten at: 650-289-9120 or Rosa@planningshop.com.

Rhonda Abrams writes books for entrepreneurs. Her latest book, Successful Business Research: Straight to the Numbers You Need—Fast!, is available now in bookstores nationwide. Register for Rhonda’s free business tips newsletter at www.PlanningShop.com.