Small Business Reference Center

What does Small Business Reference Center have for you?  A lot!  Already have a small business?  Thinking about starting a small business?  Austin is one of the most entrepreneurial cities in the U.S. and you want to know more about entrepreneurship?

From this main screen

you can access, by clicking in boxes or on icons:

1) Start-Up Information by State

2) Start-Up Kit & Business Plans (in Browse by Category)

3) Business Books (in Browse Popular Sources) from publishers like 

• Nolo, 
• Atlantic Publishing, 
• American Management Association International,
• and dozens more.

—Over 450 full-text reference books!

4) Industry Information by Small Business Type (more than six dozen categories)

5) Business Areas (each with numerous subcategories):

• Accounting
• Business & the Internet
• Buying a Business
• Closing a Business
• Employees
• Expanding a Business
• Financing a Business
• Going Green
• Legal Issues
• Management & Leadership Topics
• Marketing & Public Relations
• Operations
• Planning & Starting a Business
• Sales
• Starting & Managing a Nonprofit
• Selling a Business

6) Business Basics (each with numerous subcategories):

• Coaching an Employee
• Conducting Successful Meetings
• Doing Business on eBay
• Hiring the First Employees
• Interviewing a Candidate
• Marketing Your Business
• Presenting to Customers
• Reacting to a Changing Market
• Selling a Business
• Starting & Running a Nonprofit
• Starting a Business
• Starting a Business From Home
• Starting a Business With Less Than $1,000 - For Retirees
• Starting a Business With Less Than $1,000 - For Stay-at Home Moms & Dads
• Starting a Business With Less Than $1,000 - For Students
• Tax Deductions
• Working with Difficult People
• Work Place Problems

7) Small Business Videos

You can find information by using the search box (8) which allows detailed and tailored searching on topics of your choosing.

For example, a search to find 

recent information on apps used in retail orders or ordering 

like the one below

apps and order* and retail* [limiting publication date to 2010-2013]

produces these results:

Most are in  and will look like the originals when clicked on.  They’re printable and emailable.

For more details on searching technique and strategies, 

click on the at the upper right hand corner of the screen.

Range of resources:

• Business Magazines and Academic Journals (over 170)       
• Trade Publications (over 230)
• Books (over 470)
• Videos (over 70)
• Case Studies
• Industry Reports (over 450)
• State/Provincial Fact Sheets (over 50)
• And more…

There’s more, so explore!  Try it on your own.  Try tutorials from the vendor like the ones in the box Folders, Alerts, RSS Feeds: Better Ways to Work in EBSCO Databases on our Management Subject Guide  (or the Subject Guides for International Business, Financial Management, and Real Estate).  Or Ask a Librarian!

Current ACC students, faculty, and staff, remember to access SBRC from the library.austincc.edu webpage—its subscription is already paid for you to use. 

To start,

use the link at the beginning of this Spotlight   or

find it on the list A-Z List of E-Resources   or

type in small business reference center in the Catalog Only search box. 

You will be prompted for your ACC eID if you’re off campus.

Not currently or not yet an ACC student or employee?  Small Business Reference Center (SBRC) is also available through many area libraries.  As an example, click here for Austin Public Library Adult Library Cards, required by APL to access their subscription to SBRC, and here to access their list of business databases which includes SBRC.