Understanding Your Industry

Understanding Your Industry

By Samantha Garner, GoForth Institute

 

To help you find out the health of your industry, do some research to get answers to the following six industry health questions:

• Is my industry growing?
• Where are the opportunities in my industry?
• How is new technology being used in my industry?
• Are there young, successful businesses in my industry?
• Who are the key players in my industry?
• What are the typical financial results for businesses in my industry?

As a starting point, we recommend searching for secondary data sources using your NAICS code. Also known as the North American Industry Classification System, NAICS is used to classify companies, to collect, analyze and publish statistics, and to provide collective industry definitions across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

 

Finding your NAICS code

To find which NAICS code matches your company’s industry, visit Statistics Canada’s website to figure out which sector, subsector, industry group and industry your business falls under. Here, you can either browse through industries or search for example activities that these businesses perform.

 

Samantha Garner is GoForth Institute's Director, Communications.  Contact Samantha by email: samantha@goforthinstitute.com