| 10 Best-Performing Small Businesses by Sales Growth Over the Last 12 Months (Annual Revenue: $15 Million) | |
| 8131 - Religious organizations | 25.1% |
| 4245 - Farm product, raw material merchant wholesalers | 20.6% |
| 4471 - Gasoline stations | 15.2% |
| 1151 - Support activities for agriculture and forestry | 14.2% |
| 4543 - Direct-selling establishments | 12.5% |
| 5412 - Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping andpayroll services | 10.9% |
| 5415 - Computer systems design and related services | 9.8% |
| 6213 - Offices of other health practitioners | 9.5% |
| 3332 - Industrial machinery manufacturing | 9.2% |
| 6116 - Other schools and instruction | 8.4% |
| 10 Worst-performing Small Businesses by Sales Growth Over the Last 12 Months (Annual Revenue: $15 Million) | |
| 5312 - Offices of Real Estate Agents and brokers | -12.8% |
| 4422 - Home furnishings stores | -10.7% |
| 4233 - Lumber and other construction materials merchant wholesalers | -8.4% |
| 4411 - Automobile dealers, merchant salers | -7.3% |
| 5223 - Activities related to credit intermediation | -7.3% |
| 3219 - Other wood product manufacturing | -6.9% |
| 4412 - Other motor vehicle dealers | -6.6% |
| 3273 - Cement and concrete product manufacturing | -5.7% |
| 4481 - Clothing stores | -5.7% |
| 4421 - Furniture stores | -5.5% |
Resources For Your Startup
You're in luck. Other aspiring entrepreneurs have trod the ground you seek to walk on, and they are willing to share their insight. Check out these key startup resources:
Fedmarket.com
Home to a variety of free resources and information, including weekly newsletters on General Services Administration schedules, proposal writing and federal sales, Fedmarket.com makes the federal contracting landscape easier to navigate. For a fee, you can access products that provide more in-depth assistance with preparing proposals and filing applications. The site also organizes nationwide seminars on topics ranging from contracting to GSA schedules.
EZMatch.com
This matchmaking service might get a little personal, but it's all in an effort to match you with the right franchise opportunity. Fill out a comprehensive online questionnaire and receive a scientifically validated assessment, including a list of franchises that are a good fit based on financial, geographic, social and psychological factors. If you're thinking of going the franchising route, this might help get you started down the right path.
PolicyMap
Register for free online and gain access to geographic data related to demographics, real estate, crime, money and income, jobs, education, energy, and public investments. For $200 per month or $2,000 per year, you can upload your own data, compare it to other data analytics, gain insight to future investments, and so on.
This article was originally published in the June 2009 print edition of Entrepreneur's StartUps with the headline: The Best- and Worst-Performing Industries .
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