Finding the NAICS and SIC codes for your industry is essential to tracking down information about the line of business you want to pursue. Most libraries have reference works that you can read to find your industry such as the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, 1987 (NTIS, 1987) and the North American Industry Classification System: United States, 2002 (NTIS, 2002).

It's easier to search online. Go to http://www.census.gov/epcd/naics02/ and find the text box that says "enter keyword." Enter the name of your industry. If you are not sure of the exact name, you can try using a part of the name. For example, you could enter comp in the box and get computers and compact disks. For today's example, think about opening a hamburger and fries sort of restaurant to compete with McDonald's. Enter restaurant and click on the 2002 NAICS search button. The results give almost a dozen possibilities including "Restaurant, fast food," "Restaurant, full service," and even related industries like "Restaurant Associations." "

Restaurant, fast food" is the key. Its NAICS code is 722211, officially known as "Limited-Service Restaurants." The SIC code is 5812.

To see what you can do with it, go to http://www.census.gov and click on "Economic Census," which is in the business section. There is another text box where you can enter an NAICS code. Its label is "industry statistics sampler." Enter 722211 and click on the NAICS search button. The result on screen will give you a link to the statistics. Click on the hot link, and you'll find yourself looking at the results from the economic census. You can find out how many fast food restaurants there are nationally or in your state. You can find out how much revenue they had and how many people were employed by them. You can figure averages for per-store sales and employment to get an idea of how well these restaurants do.

For example let's use the 2001 data. Texas has 13,068 fast food restaurants (establishments), employing 248,779 people. So the average restaurant employed 19 people. Those 13,068 restaurants spent $2,616,550,000 in payroll in 2001, or $200,225 per fast food place. That works out to around $10,538 in wages or salaries for each employee on average. Now you know a bit about the going rates for workers and the kind of money you'll need to budget.

Armed with the NAICS or SIC codes, you can go to library sources such as the Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys or online sources such as Wetfeet.com http://www.wetfeet.com/asp/industries_atoz.asp (which is free) or BizMiner http://www.bizminer.com (which charges for reports) to find more detailed information about the industry you're thinking of entering.