Research, Citation, & Class Guides: Entrepreneurship: Industry & Competitor Research

Start Your Research

In the Competitors & Industry area, you want to know, broadly, what are the general conditions, who else is operating in your industry and how they run their businesses such as:

Number of employees
Location
Financial statements
Areas of expansion
Gap areas
Market share

Databases such as IBISWorld will help with broad industry overviews while Reference Solutions and Statista are helpful with finding exact competitors .

News articles and press releases are also a great resource for industry information.

Find Industry Reports

IBISWorld
Industry reports contain valuable information for creating a business plan, including information on size of the market, expected growth of the industry, what products and services are sold, and more.
Even if your new company is too niche to have a dedicated report in IBISWorld, sometimes reading about the broader industry can be helpful.
Industry reports in IBISWorld are also useful in identifying trade associations in your area. Watch the video below to see instructions:

SIC/NAICS Codes

Many business reference sources such as company directories or industry analyses use the federal government's numerical codes (SIC or NAICS) to describe types of businesses. Use the links below to identify your code, and thus help identify who else is in your industry:

NAICS Codes
The North American Industrial Classification System -- the most updated system in the US to classify companies into different categories based on their product or service.
SIC structure
The Standard Industrial Codes structure. Technically, NAICS has replaced SIC, but SIC are sometimes still used too.
ISIC Codes
The PDF document from the United Nations, outlining the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC codes).
NAICS/SIC Correspondence Tables
Concordance of NAICS publication structure and comparable SIC indexes

Identify Competitors

Reference Solutions
Use this database to build a list of competitors at any level - local (zip code or town), metro area, search by radius, county, state, or nationwide.
PrivCo

Financial information for US-based private companies earning at least $1 million in annual revenue or have at least $1 million in venture capital backing.
Note: You must create an account using your UWW email address, and this is how you will log in after NET ID authentication.

Each individual account has privileges for:
150 unique private company profile views per month
150 unique private company profiles exported via Excel per month
150 unique private company profile PDF downloads per month
plus "Saved Searched", "Company Watchlists", and all PrivCo individual account features.

If you need the 150 limit increased, please contact the Business Librarian so we can make the request to PrivCo. This is done on a case-by-case basis and must be for academic research purposes only.

Find Market Share Information

Statista
Statista is a very good resource for market share information.

Small Business Rankings

Fastest Growing Companies (2024)
These companies have been publicly-traded for at least 3 years, have revenues and market capitalization of at least $50 million with sizzling sales and earnings per share growth rates.
Franchise 500
The largest franchises in the U.S. and Canada based on financial strength and stability, growth rate and size.
Inc. 5000
The Inc. 5000: America 's Fastest Growing Private Companies ranks companies on their 5-year annual growth rate.

Entrepreneurship

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