At this point you have gathered a lot of information about your Industry. It is time to bring that information together in preparation for writing a description of your Industry.
Ultimately this writing will end up in your business plan as the Industry Element (see Step 33) but for now don’t worry about the business plan, your reader, or getting it perfect. Simply write a list of important points you now know about your Industry.
North American Industry Classification System
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is one of three main organizations in the world that deal with Industry classification. NAICS was developed by the statistical agencies of Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The organization of NAICS followed the North American Free Trade Agreement with a goal of creating common definitions and statistics to facilitate analysis of the three economies.
Here are a number of key points to help you understand your Industry:
- Industries are made up of businesses and other organizations that produce goods and services. All businesses produce either products or services or a combination of both.
- The agencies responsible for collecting taxes in each country are primary users and drivers of the Industry classification systems, because of their need to classify businesses for taxation purposes.
- NAICS analyses businesses according to their business process to determine what Industry they are in. Knowing this helped me to understand why certain types of businesses are grouped as they are, to make up some of the industries. As a writer I am grouped with artists and performers because my process for doing business is substantially the same as that of artists and performers.
View the Example: Key Industry Statements
Action
To complete this task you must complete your secondary market research (Steps 14, 15, 16, 17) and then:
- Determine which Industry or industries your business is in.
- Research to find existing reports, articles, tables, or descriptions of your Industry or industries.
- From your market research, identify and list the key points you wish to include in your Industry Element.
- Using the questions in the worksheet as your guide, review your list of key points to ensure that it is complete. Identify any missing information and add it to your list.
- Organize your list of key points in preparation for writing your Industry Element.
Tip: After gathering and listing all the key information about your Industry, organize the information from general to specific. For example, you might consider, for your readers’ sake, beginning with the larger picture (total Industry, national or international) and working your way to your more immediate situation, the local Industry picture. This will help you and your reader build a perspective on your Industry and how it relates to your business.