COBRA - The Complete Business Reference Adviser

Business and Learning provides this free internet service to every home and business in Birmingham as part of its mission to: start new businesses, help established ones grow and individuals to prosper.

You don't need to be a library member to look at the site on a library computer. If you want to use it on your home, college or office computer, you need to have a library card. Membership is free to anyone who lives, works or studies in Birmingham. You can join online or at your nearest library.

Cobra Services include:

• Business Opportunity Profiles (BOPs) 100s of business start up profiles.

• Business Information Factsheets (BIFs) - over 300 practical how-to guides, reports, checklists and fact sheets covering hundreds of business subjects.arkets - market research guides covering UK business sectors.

• Local Area Profiles - summaries of vital information specific to local, urban and rural areas around the UK, covering the business and commercial environment and sources of business support in each local area.

• Business Support and Finance - a directory of over 2,000 business support schemes, initiatives, grants, subsidies, events and UK providers of support.

• Business Legal Library - clear and concise explanations on over 300 current laws and regulations facing small businesses.

• Sources of Business Information - a directory of organisations dealing with issues relevant to setting up and running a small business.

• Events and Exhibitions - a national database of events and exhibitions.

• Useful Contacts - a directory containing contact details for organisations of interest to anyone involved in setting up or running a business.