A new business needs to do market research on potential customers as well as industry research to look at the existing market landscape to determine how its products will fit in.
Market Research looks at consumers: what they buy, who they are, what they value, which companies they buy from, etc.
Industry Research looks at companies operating in an industry: market size v. achievable market size, who makes the product or service, market share, competition, and how the industry operates.
The U.S. government is the single largest collector of data about the U.S. economy and industries. Some agencies you will probably use data from:
Much of this information is more easily accessed in:
Use advance Google searches to find industry associations: Google "industry name + association + site:.org"
ex. restaurant association site:.org
Once you find these organizations, look on their websites for sections called News, Reports, Resources, Education, etc. Some of these resources will only be available to members of the trade/industry association, but many will be available for free.
Reputable & specialist publications (ex. The Economist and The Wall Street Journal) will report on consumer trends and market conditions, policies and regulations affecting consumers
Use advance Google searches to find industry associations: Google "industry name + association + site:.org"
ex. restaurant association site:.org
Once you find these organizations, look on their websites for sections called News, Reports, Resources, Education, etc. Some of these resources will only be available to members of the trade/industry association, but many will be available for free.
What is a NAICS code:
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purpose of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. business economy. Many databases will return better results if you use the NAICS number for an industry.
To find the NAICS number for an industry, search here:
