This recipe produces a prioritized map of data sources matched to your specific industry and data needs, with quality scores, cost estimates, and access instructions. Eliminates the most common market sizing bottleneck: knowing where to look.
| Path | Tools | Cost | Speed | Output Quality |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A: US Government | Census, BLS, SEC, FRED | $0 | 1-2 hours | High (lagged) |
| B: International | World Bank, OECD, Eurostat | $0 | 1-2 hours | Medium-high |
| C: Tech-Focused | Gartner, Statista, CB Insights | $0-500/mo | 1-3 hours | High |
| D: Consumer | Nielsen, Euromonitor, Census | $0-1000/mo | 1-3 hours | High |
Duration: 15 minutes. Define exactly what data you need: market revenue, CAGR, customer count, average revenue, segmentation, geography, market share, demographics.
Duration: 30 minutes. Census Bureau (business counts), BLS (employment/wages), SEC EDGAR (public company financials), FRED (economic indicators), SBA/Trade.gov (small business stats).
Duration: 20 minutes. Google Trends, Crunchbase Free, industry associations, academic papers via Google Scholar.
Duration: 20 minutes. Tier 1 ($39-100/mo): Statista, SimilarWeb. Tier 2 ($200-500/mo): IBISWorld, CB Insights, Crunchbase Pro. Tier 3 ($1,000+/mo): Gartner, IDC, Euromonitor, PitchBook.
Duration: 15 minutes. Rate each data point on authority, recency, methodology, specificity, and corroboration (1-5 scale).
| Metric | Minimum | Good | Excellent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Critical data points found | ≥ 2/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 with cross-validation |
| Average quality score | ≥ 2.5 | ≥ 3.5 | ≥ 4.0 |
| Sources per data point | ≥ 1 | ≥ 2 | ≥ 3 (triangulated) |
| Data recency | 2023+ | 2024+ | 2025-2026 |
| Error | Cause | Recovery |
|---|---|---|
| No market report exists | Market too new/niche | Bottom-up proxy: LinkedIn company count x estimated spend |
| Data behind paywall | Monetization | Check university library access |
| Conflicting data | Different market definitions | Check each source's boundary definition |
| Data 3+ years old | Slow industry | Apply growth rate to bring forward |
| Component | Free | Paid | At Scale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government databases | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Statista | $0 (limited) | $39-79/mo | $79/mo |
| IBISWorld | $0 (library) | $300-500/mo | $500/mo |
| Crunchbase | $0 (limited) | $49/mo | $49/mo |
Every research firm uses different methodologies. Single-source sizing is a single point of failure. [src1]
Use government data as baseline, industry reports for growth context, and bottom-up count for specificity.
Use at the start of any market sizing or competitive analysis project. Saves 3-5 hours of trial-and-error searching by mapping the right sources to data needs upfront.