The first step towards SPARK entrepreneurial services is filling out a client intake application.
SizeUp SPARK is a free, data-driven business intelligence tool designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs in Washtenaw County make informed decisions.
By providing access to industry insights, competitive benchmarking, customer demographics, and local market data, SizeUp SPARK empowers businesses to identify growth opportunities, refine strategies, and stay competitive. Whether launching a startup, expanding an existing business, or exploring new markets, this powerful tool offers the same high-value analytics that large corporations use—at no cost. Ann Arbor SPARK, with support from Bank of Ann Arbor, is making this resource available to strengthen the local economy, foster innovation, and support business success throughout the region.
Make the most of these tools!
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Small Business Advisor
Start here! Information on topics related to planning,
starting, managing, and growing your business.
Use the Small Business Advisor to:
- Get step-by-step business guidance
- Discover ways to increase revenue and reduce costs
- Access tools for planning funding and growth
- Learn best practices with real-time market data
Insights
Measure your business performance. Discover potential customers. Optimize target marketing.
Use the Insights tool to:
- Compare business performance with competitors
- Identify the best locations, customers, and suppliers
- Analyze customer spending trends
- Explore workforce availability and salary insights
Pulse
Hyperlocal business data by industry.
Use the Pulse tool to:
- Access real-time local industry performance data
- Identify market opportunities by spotting gaps
- Track growing and declining industry sectors
- Get up-to-date market insights by industry
Shop Local
Buy from business in your community.
Use the Shop Local tool to:
- Discover and support locally owned businesses
- Connect with local customers and vendors
- Access business contact details and websites
- Explore businesses using an interactive map
Frequently Asked Questions
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.
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.