BUS 227, New Business Development: Researching the Industry

Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (aka Industry Canada) provides a wealth of information for small and medium-sized business owners, or for those doing research in this area.  The information these tools provide is highly credible as the data is reported by Canadian businesses to the federal government through various surveys.

Data typically provided by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada includes the following:

Definition and Exclusions

This gives you an idea of the scope of this particular NAICS classification code: what kinds of business and activities are included? Which are not?

Types of Data

• Establishments
  Provides data on the number, size (by # of employees) and location of businesses in the selected category. You can use this information to assess the existing level of competition within the subsector in your province.
• Financial performance data
  Provides data on average revenues, expenses and profits for small and medium-sized businesses in the selected category. You can use this information to establish financial benchmarks and address questions such as:
  • How profitable is your business likely to be?
  • What is the ratio of profitable to unprofitable businesses in this sector?
  • Are your wage costs in line with what most business wage costs are?
  • Is your sector making money or have revenues fallen while expenses have increased?
• International trade
  Provides data on imports, exports and more for the selected category. If your business will engage in trade, you can use this information to identify export opportunities, identify opportunities to replace imported goods with your own, assess the export intensity of the subsector and determine the apparent size of the domestic market.
• Other information
  Provides links to other industries within the sector. It can reveal other industries you might want to include in your investigation.
• Company directories
  Provides searchable lists of company profiles that self-identify their primary activity in the selected category.

To Find Statistics on Your Industry:

1. Click on the Find Statistics by Industry.
2. Click on Start by choosing a sector.
3. Enter keyword(s) describing your industry (e.g., animal food) or the first numbers of the NAICS code (e.g., 31). This will retrieve a list of industries with their associated NAICS code.
4. Select the industry (or industries) that most closely matches your business (e.g., 31111 - Animal Food Manufacturing). You'll see a landing page for the industry with links to data, as well as definitions and exclusions.

   

The Industry Profiles provided by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, will provide you with intelligence on Canada's industry sectors. Sectors covered include:

• Consumer products: apparel; footwear; furniture; major household appliances; printing and related support activities; recreational boats; sporting and athletic goods
• Manufacturing industries: aerospace and defence; automotive; biopharmaceuticals & pharmaceuticals; chemicals; hydrogen and fuel cells; medical devices; plastics; primary metals; rubber; shipbuilding and industrial marine; textiles
• Service industries: logistics and supply chain management; retail trade; specialized design services; tourism
• Technologies: hydrogen and fuel cells; life sciences; nanotechnologies; ocean technologies

Industry profiles provide you with information on:

• Historical value of the industry (usually last 5 years)
• Imports/Exports and trade balance
• Domestic market share
• Economic overview
• Trends and issues facing the industry (outlook)
• Links to related industry associations/organizations

To Find a Profile on Your Industry:

1. Click on the tab Industry Profiles.
2. Browse the list to find a link to your industry. Note that not all industries are listed here; for example,  Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada does not provide profiles for food manufacturing (including pet food manufacturing).

Passport GMID offers news, profiles, analysis, reports, and data for industries in the fast-moving consumer goods sectors. It's also a good place to find related demographic and economic data for countries around the world. A search for an industry reveals a variety of types of information:

• Briefings (global and country) by category or strategy
• Company profiles
• Datagraphics
• Market statistics (market size, company and brand shares, distribution, pricing)
• Opinion pieces
• Podcasts and videocasts
• Product ingredients
• Topical articles
• Trade statistics (exports, imports, volume)

Finding Industry Statistics and Analysis

1. From the home page, Search Statistics by choosing an industry and category.
   
2. Results will be shown by country - look for Canada, and explore the different statistics available. How large is the industry? Which companies are the major players, and how much of the market or brand share do they own? Is their market or brand share increasing, decreasing, or staying the same? How much of the market is available for new companies? Where are the products sold? What is the average price? For food products, what ingredients are used, and in what quantities?
3. Use the options on the left to change the view; for example, what is the forecast for this industry (change the time series)?
4. Click on the Related Analysis icon for Canada; get access to category briefings, related industry reports and company profiles, relevant articles, and more.
   

Visual Dashboard

1. From the Passport GMID home page, Explore Dashboards by choosing a group (Industries) and industry.
   
2. Customize the visual dasboard:
   1. Change the category: you can change to a more specific category within the industry (e.g., Dog Food instead of Pet Care)
   2. You can change the country data by clicking on a country on the map, or using the button.
   3. You can explore a country in detail: market size, size per household, growth, and forecast data.
   4. You can change the view to see company data (company share, sales, and point share change, as well as company rankings) or channel (distribution) data.
      

APA Citation Format

References

Euromonitor International. (2015a, June 29). Beer: What's brewing on the horizon? Global briefing. Retrieved from http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal

Euromonitor International. (2015b, June 30). Sales of beer by category: Total volume 2009-2014 [Table]. In Beer in Canada category briefing. Retrieved from http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal

Euromonitor International. (2015c, July 6). The growth in popularity of craft beer in New Zealand [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal

Euromonitor International. (2015d, July 8). Beer in Sweden category briefing. Retrieved from http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal

Telford, H. (2015, June 24). What does craft mean in carbonated soft drinks? Opinion Retrieved from http://www.portal.euromonitor.com/portal

In-Text Citation

(Euromonitor International, 2015c)

(Telford, 2015)

Note:Provide the URL of the publisher's home page (in this case Euromonitor). Do not provide the direct URL to the report, or the name of the database (Passport GMID).

Industry profiles from Business Insights: Global are global in scope and offer an overview of the industry (key facts, top countries, and top companies), as well as a variety of documents related to the industry:

• Industry essays (industry snapshot, organization & structure, background & development, current industry conditions, industry leaders, further reading)
• Associations
• Market research from journals and magazines
• Market share reports
• Rankings

Tip: Always check the date on the profile - while many are relatively current (within the last year), some are older, particularly in smaller markets, like Canada.

To find a profile:

1. Enter the name of the industry in the search box, and select "Industry" from the drop-down menu.
   
2. Select an industry from the list.

APA Citation Format

Reference

Commercial banking. (2018). In Encyclopedia of American industries. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale. Retrieved from http://bi.galegroup.com/global/

In-Text Citation

(Commercial banking, 2018)

Industry profiles from Business Source Complete offer a great deal of data about an industry. A profile will typically include the following:

• Market Overview
• Market Data
• Market Segmentation (by category, geography; market share; market distribution)
• Market Outlook
• Five Forces Analysis (buyer power; supplier power; new entrants; threats of substitutes; degree of rivalry)
• Leading Companies
• Macroeconomic Indicators (e.g., country data)
• Industry Associations

Tip: Check the date on the profile - while many are relatively current (within the last year), some are older, particularly in smaller markets, like Canada.

To find a profile:

1. Enter keywords describing the industry and the term "industry profile" in the search box(es) [1].
2. Industry profiles are often associated with a specific country or region, but there are also global profiles that look at the industry worldwide [2]  - you probably want to view all that relate to your company's geographic distribution.
3. Take note of the date [3] - ideally, you want the most current data available, so you may need to look for updated data, if it's available. (Note the source of the data in the report and go directly to the source for updates.)
4. Click on the "PDF Full Text" [4] link to view the profile.

APA Citation Format

References

MarketLine Industry Profile. (2012a, February). Global Pet Care. Retrieved from http://www.marketline.com/

​MarketLine Industry Profile. (2012b, February). Pet Care in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.marketline.com/

In-Text Citation

(MarketLine Industry Profile, 2012a)

Note: Take the title from the title page of the report, not the listing in the database. Provide the URL of the publisher's home page (in this case Marketline). Do not provide the direct URL to the report, or the name of the database (Business Source Complete).