Every business fits into an industry sector or section of the economy. For instance, a clothing store is part of the retail industry, while an auto repair shop is part of the service industry. A well-written business plan will include research on the overall situation and future trends in a specific industry because it indicates that you understand and anticipate changes in the factors that impact your business. You are giving an overview, so this data will generally be on the national or even international level. You might answer some of the following questions in this section.

·         What is the size of the industry, measured by number of firms, employment and revenue size?

·         What are some characteristics of the industry; is it labor intensive, is it highly regulated, is it dominated by a few companies or many?

·         What role does technology play?

·         What new products are being developed that will impact the industry?

You can begin researching these questions by checking out the

How to Research an Industry section of this site; it explains how to identify the Standard Industrial Code (SIC) or new NAICS codes for your business, and lists a wide variety of essential resources. Following are a few sources which are particularly useful when writing a business plan.  

- SBDC National Information Clearinghouse

Industry reports from the Small Business Development Centers Network, designed to help in business planning. These reports cover industries that are traditionally represented by small businesses such as eldercare, convenience stores, and more.  

- U.S. Economic Census Available in print as a multivolume set or on the internet, this is the place to get statistics on the number of companies and sales volume for specific industries, for the U.S. as a whole or just one ZIP code area.  The Economic Census is conducted every five years; the last survey was 2002.

Sample Business Plan Template

Organizing a Business Plan

Description of the Business - Where to Find the Data

The Industry

The Customers

The Competition

The Location

Selling and Advertising Strategies

Web Sites

Company Personnel and Managment

Financial Data

Accounting Records

Financial Ratios

Supporting Documents