A local business research workflow for teams

Start with a location and category relevant to your work. Define why each public record is relevant before collecting information.

Step 1 — choose a focused research scope

A useful market has enough visible businesses to research, a problem your offer genuinely addresses, and an appropriate business contact channel. Test a small query and validate relevance before scaling collection.

Step 2 — build a reviewable record set

Collect the businesses returned for your query, then review and organise them. Public sources can be incomplete or out of date, so treat records as research to validate rather than a definitive registry.

Step 3 — validate public details

Review publicly displayed contact details, websites, and profile links where relevant. Do not assume a public listing grants permission for unsolicited communications.

Step 4 — use records responsibly

Use information only for lawful, relevant business purposes. Respect source terms, privacy requirements, and any applicable marketing-consent obligations.

A useful list is current enough for your purpose, checked by a person, and handled in line with applicable law and source terms.