FAQs for Step 18: List Key Points About Your Industry
Q: This industry classification thing seems overly complicated and beuracratic. How does it help me, the business owner?
We understand. Government agencies, those who collect taxes, and those who study and measure industries and conduct market research – continue to attempt to bring order to a changing marketplace, in your country and across borders. It’s a wild panacea and a gallant and gargantuan effort. We’ve come a long way from the days of Robin Hood and the Sherriff of Nottingham, even longer from the first time cave dwellers traded stone tools for fresh meat. Those who would bring order to the chaotic world of business have brought us quite a ways along the path, still a long way to go. The classification of industries might appear to be a waste of your effort, but a closer look will show that you can learn a great deal by understanding the industry you’re proposing to do business in.
Knowing your industry is a significant step toward understanding your business, particularly how it relates to other businesses and similar businesses in other areas. How does it help you? Once you know the accurate name of your industry, you can begin to search for information (articles, books, videos, market analysis, feasibility studies, economic surveys) that others have taken the time and made the effort to research and create. In other words, you can seriously piggyback on the efforts of others who, in many cases, are significantly better funded than you may be. In any event, why reinvent the wheel – if someone has gone to the trouble to research your industry, why not take full advantage of their work and save yourself time, energy and money.
To summarize, industry classification brings you these benefits:
- Knowing the accurate industry title / name will enable you to locate information and learn more about your industry
- You will gain better understanding of your business
- You will know the threats and be better prepared to deal with them
- You will be able to piggyback on the shoulders of those who have already gone to great effort to study your industry
- You will be able to avoid making silly mistakes that arise from ignorance of your surroundings
And if you not a learner, you’re not going to survive in business anyway. We urge you to click on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) and take a few minutes to use the search function there to figure out what industry you’re business is in. You’ll be glad you did!
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