Trade Organizations
Trade or professional organizations can be good sources for otherwise hard to find statistics on sales, volume, value, industry trends or other news. Many times these figures are cited as definitive as possible sources.
There are organizations for toys, chocolate, automobile salesmen, and so on.
They have stats like this:
You can do a google search for their websites or.....
you can search our database Ward's Directory and be sure to select advanced search and search the Encyclopedia of Associations by keywords. More clicks but better results.
Industry Analyses
Industry Surveys
Research those good ideas and make sure they'll work!
Industry surveys break down current trends, profitability, costs, competition and consumer preferences in an industry. Sometimes called market research.
Marketline Advantage - Features detailed, comprehensive industry research reports
Standard and Poor's Netvantage - Click on industries tab at the top to get industry surveys
also:
ABI Inform (click data and reports tab at top)
hint: Competitive Strategy - Michael Porter's crucial book will teach you how to understand the state of your industry and your competition. The building blocks for your plan. An earlier edition is here.