Popping down to the Business and IP Centre at the British Library

A statue of Isaac Newton by Eduardo Paolozzi
stands on the piazza outside the British Library.
Image via Wikipedia

I spent yesterday in London - my home town. As well as popping in the Apple Store (I am deciding whether or not to buy a MacBook Pro with Final Cut Studio or Final Cut Express), and getting myself a new wallet from M&S (I did want a JFold wallet, but they're too pricey at the moment), I checked out the Business and IP Centre at the British Library. You can even check them out on Facebook, Twitter and other sites!

This place is an informational Aladdin's Cave for the aspiring entrepreneur or small business owner. On the shelves and on their computer databases (from which you can download!) are reports from professional market research companies like Mintel, Datamonitor and Frost & Sullivan. This information is worth thousands of pounds. And yet, I have access to it, 15 minutes walk away from my flat, free of charge! And they run a lot of other services such as one-to-one clinics, free online courses, and have a YouTube channel. Make sure you subscribe to it so they can see providing information like this is much appreciated!

I'd definitely advise anybody about thinking of starting up to go check it out. Information cited from these sources is seen as authoritative, and while for some industries it might be a tad out of date (things change in weeks online for example), I think it could really give a boost to any business plan.

Simply pop down to the British Library on Euston Road, with a proof of address, something with your photo on it and something with your signature on it, get a reader's pass and check it out.