1. What is the difference between the Industry Financial Analysis, Small Business Financial Analysis and Cash Flow Profiles?

2. Where does the data come from?

3. What industries can I choose from?

4. I'm both a startup and a small business. Which Profile should I purchase? Or do I need both?

5. Two industries have the same or similar names but different codes. Which one should I select?

6. Are the Profiles based on NAICS or SIC codes?

7. I divided the average sales of firms in my industry by average employment, but the answer doesn't match the sales per employee rate in my Profile. Why not?

8. What does "nec" or "misc" mean at the end of an industry name?

9. Why does my industry show a survival rate above 100%?

1. What is the difference between the Industry Financial Analysis, Small Business Financial Analysis and Cash Flow Profiles?

2. Where does the data come from?
Raw data analyzed for BizMiner reports is sourced from an array of the nation's private business databases, reporting agencies and government statistical sources. None of these raw data sources creates the final measures reflected in BizMiner industry profiles. In total, BizMiner accesses over half a billion sourced data points from eighteen million business operations for each of its twice annual update. By agreement with suppliers, we are not at liberty to divulge specific sources of raw data. Census and other government data is used incidentally to inform and test projections for non-reporting firms.

3. What industries can I choose from?
There are Profiles for about 16,000 different types of business. Most of these are available for different small business or startup segments as well. In all, there are about 2,500,000 different profiles to choose from. The best way to find the industry that aligns most closely to your needs is to use the Keyword Search.

4. I'm both a startup and a small business. Which Profile should I purchase? Or do I need both?
In general, the Small Business Profiles are developed from larger samples of firms, yielding a more robust analysis. Industry Financial Profiles may also include sales class categories that correspond directly to your small business experience. If your business is a startup or sole proprietorship, consider the Cash Flow series as well.

5. Two industries have the same or similar names but different codes. Which one should I select?
This probably means that you're trying to choose between industries in two different sectors which deal with the same or similar products. For example, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers all deal with dolls, and the keyword "dolls" will produce industries in all three sectors. Another example: "Office furniture" shows up both as a product (manufacturing) and a construction segment (installation).

The industry you select should match your type of operation. You can check this by the numerical range covering the code number assigned to each industry:
Agriculture 11-xxx.xxxx
Mining 2x-xxx.xxxx
Construction 3x-xxx.xxxx
Manufacturing 4x-xxx.xxxx
Transport 5x-xxx.xxxx
Utilities 6x-xxx.xxxx
Communications 7x-xxx.xxxx
Wholesale 8x-xxx.xxxx
Retail 9x-xxx.xxxx
Finance-Insurance 10x-xxx.xxxx
Real Estate 11x-xxx.xxxx
Services 12x-xxx.xxxx

6. Are the Profiles based on NAICS or SIC codes?
The Profiles are classified by a hierarchy using 4 digit Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes and corresponding industry names. However, we report on many detailed industry segments within each SIC classification. This permits BizMiner to report on over 16,000 lines of business, far more than in North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS).

7. I divided the average sales of firms in my industry by average employment, but the answer doesn't match the sales per employee rate in my Profile. Why not?
When calculating the sales per employee rate, BizMiner uses employment figures only of firms which report sales, since only these firms are included in the final calculation. Sometimes this figure differs from average firm employment for the entire group.

8. What does "nec" or "misc" mean at the end of an industry name?
"Nec" and "Misc" stand for "not elsewhere classified" or "miscellaneous" respectively, and both have the same meaning. These classifications are often a catch-all for firms which do not fall into any other industry subsets at the corresponding level of detail.

9. Why does my industry show a survival rate above 100%?
Isolated business segments infrequently include firms which were originally misclassified or which changed their primary line of business during the analysis period. In rare cases, this can cause a "data blip" indicating more "survivor" firms in the current year category than at the outset of the analysis period.