MaRS Market Intelligence is regularly asked to help entrepreneurs determine how many potential customers they might have for their product or service. These customers might be:
- individuals, e.g., the number of males aged 18 to 35;
- professionals or members of specific occupations or groups, e.g., the number of physical therapists or university students; or
- enterprises, e.g., the number of restaurants or businesses with a specific employee count or range.
The following advice and links should be generic enough to get most entrepreneurs started on their own research. However, we recognize that your information needs may be so specific that additional expert assistance may be needed. Please contact your MaRS advisor about accessing MaRS Market Intelligence services if you can’t source the data you need.
As most entrepreneurs are primarily focused on the North American market initially, we have focused on US and Canadian sources. This guide looks at the US consumer and enterprise market only. For guidance on how to size a Canadian consumer market, visit: How Do I Find Canadian Market Data?
Most of the links below are derived from the major US statistical agencies, namely:
- the US Census Bureau and
- the US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Where appropriate, we have included links to other sources, including commercial market research firms, but typically, these providers only provide snippets or highlights for free.
Individual Consumers
Online Users
Internet Use in the United States: 2009 (US Census Bureau): This report outlines Internet use by US households and individuals.
Topics: Demographics (Pew Internet and American Life Project): This project offers access to both reports and data on online access and behaviour by gender, age, race and family composition, as well as online activities and behaviour, and technology use and adoption. It also includes research on the digital divide.
“The 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review” (comScore): This report details prevailing trends of the past year and their implications for the future. The report highlights the industry’s leading stories of the year.
General Population & Demographics
The US Census Bureau will be your main source for population and basic demographic statistics. They produce hundreds of tables for variables ranging from age and sex to family status and place of birth.
The best starting point for this research is the yearly Statistical Abstract of the United States. While this summary is no longer being maintained as of October 2011, the source provided for each table will point you to the appropriate survey for more recent data.
Statistical Abstract of the United States (US Census Bureau)
Another excellent resource for US population counts and demographics is American FactFinder, a search tool that allows you to search across many (but not all) surveys conducted by the US Census Bureau. The tool allows you to search by topic, geography, population groups and more.
American FactFinder (US Census Bureau)
Here are some sample links to tables or reports that address age, sex and/or family composition:
Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 (US Census Bureau): This profile outlines the most current population estimates by five-year age groups and gender.
National Population Projections: 2009 (US Census Bureau): These are the most current population projections available, based on the 2000 Census.
Age and Sex: 2000 – United States – Metropolitan Statistical Area (US Census Bureau): These are the most current age and sex breakdowns for geographies considered by most of us to be equivalent to US cities.
Households and Families: 2010 (US Census Bureau): Here you’ll find counts of household type, size, households with children and family type by age of children.
Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being (Council on Women and Girls, The White House): This is a special report released in March 2011 that aggregates data about women from multiple US government departments.
Professions, Occupations and Groups
Counts for groups within certain occupations can be sourced from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and from other non-profit sources. Good starting points include:
Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH), 2010-2011 Edition (US Bureau of Labor Statistics): This is the best resource for US employment counts and projections. Hundreds of occupations are covered in this yearly publication. It also links to additional sources of information, licensing and professional bodies.
Occupational Employment Statistics (US Bureau of Labor Statistics): If the OOH doesn’t provide the information you need, the datasets should help. If you’re looking for the most current occupational counts, occupational counts for a specific industry or occupational counts within the private vs. public sectors, the answers should be here.
Career Guide to Industries (CGI), 2010-2011 Edition (US Bureau of Labor Statistics): This guide provides counts and projections for occupations within dozens of industries.
If you are looking for US elementary, secondary or postsecondary student counts, your best starting point is the National Center for Educational Statistics.
See the annual “Digest of Education Statistics”; and “Projections of Education Statistics to 2020″; (available in the Publications & Products section of the NCES website) for enrolment statistics for all levels of education and enrolment forecasts respectively.
If the profession or occupation you’re targeting is regulated or requires a license to practice, the regulatory or licensing body might be able to provide counts. However, many professions and occupations are regulated at the state level, so counts may only be collected at that level and then will have to be added up. Many occupations and professions, however, will have a national umbrella organization that might aggregate data.
The website of the Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation (CLEAR) can be used to identify regulatory or licensing bodies:
CLEAR Regulatory Directory: An international association of professional regulatory bodies, CLEAR offers a topical directory of associations, colleges and boards that are involved in the regulation or licensure of various professions.
Industry or trade associations sometimes provide employment or workforce data for their vertical. To find the relevant associations, try these links:
ASAE Gateway to Associations: Here you can search for keywords in the association name, as well as limit your search by region or association type.
WEDDLE’s Association Directory: Scroll down this page to see a list of association categories.
Enterprises
The US Census Bureau is your best source for business counts. Here are some good starting points:
Statistics of US Businesses: This database is updated annually, with 2009 data being the most currently available. It includes firm and establishment counts by industry, geography and employment size. Even more detailed data is available for download in comma-delimited format—look for the link.
2007 Economic Census: American FactFinder – Quick Reports – Industry: Quick Reports allows you to generate reports for industries that include aggregated revenues for all establishments. You can drill down by sector or if you know your North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code or industry code, you can search by it as well.
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NAICS or Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes are useful tools for sizing your enterprise market as lots of data is aggregated using these codes. |
If you want to know what enterprise data—beyond business counts—is available for the industry or industries you are targeting, the best resource is the Industry Statistics Sampler.
Statistics about small businesses can be derived from Statistics of U.S. Businesses (SUSB) but a quick way to source SMB counts using 2008 data can be found at Statistics About Business Size (US Census Bureau).
If a sector is regulated, there may be business count data available from the regulator or department that oversees this sector. Here are some sample industry links:
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Key Statistics: This site provides counts for all FDIC-insured banks and savings institutions. A link from this website also leads you to a database that can generate a list of the top institutions ranked by assets.
TransStats Data Library: Aviation (Bureau of Transportation Statistics): This site provides data for all US-certificated air carriers or airlines; a count would have to be manually generated from all the companies listed in the various reports.
lick on a tag to proceed to the Startup Library's Delicious page for additional resources:
