FAQs

What does SizeUp do and who is it meant to help?

SizeUp serves both small businesses and the large companies that have small business customers. SizeUp helps large companies better serve their small business customers. For more information about this, please see the additional information by industry on our website. SizeUp helps small and medium-sized business owners make intelligent decisions to grow their businesses. To learn more and watch demonstrations, please visit How It Works.

Where does the data come from?

In the United States, business data comes from hundreds of data sources including IRS records, county courthouse filings, Yellow Pages and White Pages, business publications, the U.S. Postal Service, and corporate annual reports, which are manually reviewed and maintained. The data is verified through over 25 million phone calls each year by third-party researchers and is constantly updated, which means the competitiveness ranking of businesses is recalculated with every update. This business data is similar to and includes the type of data used by the majority of the Fortune 100 companies, the most used search engines, and even GPS-based auto navigation systems.

SizeUp is also implemented in countries outside of the USA and is expanding into new countries. In these countries there are similar sets of data that are used to provide the SizeUp service. Although there is a common perception that developing SizeUp can only occur in a country like the United States because of the availability of data, this is not accurate. Quality data is available in many countries and due to transparency laws in some countries the data may even be better. If you would like to know if SizeUp can be implemented in your country please contact us.

Demographic, labor force, consumer, education, innovation, occupation, transportation, environmental, incentive, and entrepreneurship data comes from a wide range of public and private data sources including, but not limited to, the US Census, United States Postal Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau estimates, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Medicare statistics, Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Federal Aviation Office, US Environmental Protection Agency, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, and commercial data providers. Data is updated on a varying schedule depending on the dataset. Demographic data includes current year projections using proprietary data for most data points.

Because much of the data provided by public sources is not updated frequently enough to make real-time business decisions (such as the US Census), data is projected to the present-year using proprietary methods. The methodology follows rigorous quantitative analysis standards which follow best practices in statistics, economics, demography, geography, corporate site selection, and economic development. In addition, SizeUp uses our proprietary methodology for analyzing information from all of the datasets.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data comes from a variety of sources. The base map data is provided through Google Maps and its data vendors. However, for business decision success, companies need a much higher level of geographic data accuracy, robustness, and information than is currently provided on any of the major search engine map websites. SizeUp overlays this needed business, demographic, and other geo-referenced community characteristics over Google Maps. In addition, local governments have extremely accurate geographic layers of data which is relevant for businesses and can save/make businesses a lot of money in better decision making and time-savings, but this data has been locked away in the computers of government engineers.

Can SizeUp be implemented in other countries?

SizeUp is implemented in countries outside of the USA and is expanding into new countries. In these countries there are similar sets of data that are used to provide the SizeUp service. Although there is a common misperception that developing SizeUp can only occur in a country like the United States because of the availability of data, this is not accurate. Quality data is available in many countries and due to transparency laws in some countries the data may even be better. If you would like to know if SizeUp can be implemented in your country please contact us.

What industries are included?

SizeUp includes information on thousands of industries. To be included, an industry must be one in which the typical business produces revenue. This excludes many industries primarily funded by government and religious institutions. Industries included on SizeUp must also comprise at least 1,000 businesses nationwide.

What do the graphs mean?

There are a variety of charts and graphs created for you on SizeUp. One of the most common is a chart that compares your business to the performance of similar businesses in your industry located in your same city, county, metro, and state compared to the nation. You can use this graph to compare your business to how similar businesses which compete in your industry are performing in different locations.

Is my company’s information kept confidential?

All individual information you submit to SizeUp on the SizeUp.com website to evaluate the competitiveness of your company is kept completely confidential and is only for your use. For more information about this please see our Privacy Policy. If you are using SizeUp technology on the websites of our customers, the terms of use and privacy policies are those of the website you are using.

What do I get for signing up for an account?

By signing up for a SizeUp account you gain access to additional competitive analysis reports and receive notices when major data updates result in a change in your business’ competitiveness and industry benchmarking. Only SizeUp members have access to additional competitiveness reports. In addition, SizeUp updates major data sets throughout the year which will result in a change in the ranked competitiveness and benchmarking of your company, so we send you an e-mail reminder that your competitiveness report has been updated so you can review the new information. Through your account you can also receive information about resources which may benefit your company or reduce your expenses. In the near future, you will be able to store multiple reports and access them through your account profile.

How local is the information in SizeUp?

SizeUp is hyper-local with local benchmarking and industry data visualization that you won’t find anywhere else.

How does SizeUp make money?

SizeUp makes money through business partnerships and the licensing of its technology. If your company is interested in licensing our technology to supplement your business offerings, please email partnerships@SizeUp.com.