--- title: "CEO School: Compare or Die" description: "Harsh but true: companies that don't compare can't compete. Why? Nobody is an industry of one. Whatever you sell — a product or service, b2b or b2c — there's always an alternative." --- [![](https://www.peerviewdata.com/hs-fs/hubfs/PD%20logo_horiz_gradient.png?width=182&height=80&name=PD%20logo_horiz_gradient.png)](https://www.peerviewdata.com/) # Peerview Data Insights ## CEO School: Compare or Die by [Kirk Enright](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/author/kirk-enright), on Jul 21, 2015 7:30:00 AM Harsh, but true: companies that don't compare don't compete. Why? Nobody is an industry of one. Whatever you sell — a product or service, b2b or b2c — there's always an alternative. You'd think this truth would impact the way every company manages itself, but it doesn't: a lot of companies are content with whatever market share they have and don't make much effort to assess or improve their competitive performance. Sad. But also great because **this gives companies that care a significant advantage**. The challenge? Small- to medium-size businesses (i.e. $1m to $50m in revenue) that want to know *how they're doing* compare to peers and peak performances and *where they should be doing better* don't always have the resources to do it themselves — *even those with dedicated CFOs, COOs, CPOs and CMOs find that the process of aggregating and analyzing all that industry, trend and competitive data is not only time consuming and difficult, but expensive.* The solution? We think our [strategic management & planning tool](https://www.peerviewdata.com/overview-video-compare45) is a great resources, of course, but there are alternative ways to get the comparative analytics you need to manage your company in the most competitive way possible: - **1. Government Databases:** The federal government is the largest producer of data in the U.S. It’s a great source of information on historical business trends and metrics like growth rates by industry, profitability, employment, etc.   [Small Business Administration Research & Statistics](https://www.sba.gov/category/advocacy-navigation-structure/research-and-statistics) [US Census Data](https://www.usa.gov/statistics)  [US Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis](http://bea.gov)  [SBDCNet](http://www.sbdcnet.org/category/small-business-research-reports) - **2. Government Services:** Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) provide aspiring and current small business owners a variety of free business consulting and low-cost training services including: business plan development, manufacturing assistance, financial packaging and lending assistance, exporting and importing support, disaster recovery assistance, procurement and contracting aid, market research help, 8(a) program support, and healthcare guidance. (*FULL DISCLOSURE: The [Indiana SBDC](http://www.isbdc.org) has licensed our small business management tool for use with its client companies.)*   [Small Business Developemt Centers](https://www.sba.gov/tools/local-assistance/sbdc) - **3. Trade groups/industry associations:** Almost every industry has a trade group or association. Some are better than others, but all provide some range or services and support.   [List](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_industry_trade_groups_in_the_United_States)  - **4. Thought leaders:** Bloggers, journalists, pundits — the insights range from the incredible to the insignificant, but the level of detail can be surprising, especially for those who do case studies.   [Think with Google](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/industries/?gclid=CjwKEAjwlPOsBRCWq5_e973PzTgSJACMiEp2iyenGbYx-EcaRwvqDWLHRYRDwQI8oz600kTsfqDpnRoCcAjw_wcB) [New York Times Resources](http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/small-business/management/index.html) [List #1](https://www.americanexpress.com/us/small-business/openforum/articles/10-business-thought-leaders-you-absolutely-must-follow/) [List #2](https://www.clearpointstrategy.com/top-20-business-strategy-thought-leaders/) [List #3](http://www.businessinsider.com/top-15-marketing-thought-leaders-2012-10) [Harvard Business Review](http://hbr.org) [Bloomberg](http://www.bloomberg.com) [Inc.](http://inc.com) - **5. Peer groups:** Peer groups bring owners, executives and managers together for high-level interactions, best-practices sharing, insights, analysis, etc.    [Google Business Groups](https://www.google.com/landing/gbg/) [Vistage](http://www.vistage.com/landings/start-today/?campaignID2=70180000001IMp4&ls=Google%20Adwords&lsd=CoreRLSA&gclid=CjwKEAjwlPOsBRCWq5_e973PzTgSJACMiEp2K_9_IvQnqtpHBoqYGiRgNKC7PftcAO16JZ43LObumxoCdxLw_wcB) [CEO Roundtable](http://www.ceo-roundtable.com) [YPO](http://www.ypo.org) [Business Roundtable](http://businessroundtable.org) - **6. Paid:** Prices vary and information can range from generic to very specific.    [LexisNexis](http://www.lexisnexis.com/trial/uslm170327.asp?access=1-593199941&treatcd=1-811058178&gclid=CjwKEAjwlPOsBRCWq5_e973PzTgSJACMiEp2GvdTKhfzyK4M0maH-kB3YnEE5VXXgE_50gtj6zmdCxoCjeDw_wcB) [Market Research](http://www.marketresearch.com) [IBISWorld](https://www.ibisworld.com/industry/home.aspx) _____________________________ ***Not sure what to do with your data? Let us analyze it for you. *** → Request a demo: [![Demo](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/457584/40fd1418-ebc2-4fb3-8744-76dc9934e907.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/457584/40fd1418-ebc2-4fb3-8744-76dc9934e907) → Sign up for a trial account — *$799 plus a one-time $395 set-up fee.* [![Sign Up](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/457584/2ce98fcb-02a6-4f0a-b4d8-f940e6efc4c5.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/457584/2ce98fcb-02a6-4f0a-b4d8-f940e6efc4c5) Topics: [Money](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/money) [People](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/people) [Customers](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/customers) [Planning & Forecasting](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/planning-forecasting) [Competitive Analytics](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/competitive-analytics) [KPIs](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/kpis) [Business Performance](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/business-performance) [Small Business](https://www.peerviewdata.com/old-blog/topic/small-business) - 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