Increase your business opportunities with reliable data from KVK

A good business plan is the foundation of a successful business. Making such a plan is not as difficult as you might think. KVK has information available on many figures and trends, free of charge. Current figures from the Business Register tell you a lot. You can use KVK Figures and Trends for valuable insights into your target group, competitors, and the regional economy.

What you can do with KVK Figures and Trends

1. Map your competition

When you are starting up, you want to know how many competitors you will have. With the KVK Company Counter, you can find that out in just a few clicks and see how many companies there are in your chosen sector. You decide your search area. That can be a place of residence, but also a municipality, province, or region.

“You use the business counter to quickly form a picture,” says Annelies den Breejen, data specialist at KVK. “For example, if you want to open a café in Utrecht, the tool uses figures from the Business Register to show how many cafés there already are in the city: 202.”

According to Den Breejen, the counter is often a starting point. “A small part of a larger search.”

2. Explore the market

Are you planning to open a new branch and want to know the chances of success in a particular location? Then you can use the KVK Location Scan. The scan shows the market potential of your future business location, how much competition there is, and whether your sector is shrinking or growing. The scan is only available in Dutch.

“If you are looking for a promising place to locate your business, you use the Location Scan,” says Den Breejen. “Based on your search query, the scan makes a comparison. This shows you how many customers you can reach and how many you need to keep your business healthy. That helps enormously in making a wise choice.”

When you do the scan, you will get a report (in Dutch) with figures and points of interest that will help you choose a location. You can use this report to underpin your business plan and when applying for funding.

3. Get to know your customers

The KVK location scan can also give you information about your potential customers. How many there are, how old they are, whether they own a house, what their average income is.

The location scan gives a picture of supply and demand in the location you choose. Irfaan Hasanradja used the scan after he rented premises in Heemstede for his new lunchroom Trankilo Food & Drinks. Friends who are successful in the hospitality industry gave him advice on starting his new lunchroom. They also suggested he use the KVK location scan, and he is happy they did. “I got really valuable information. I made a lot of choices based on the data I got from that scan.”

By doing the location scan, Hasanradja learned that his potential customers include many people in their fifties with a good income. “That is useful to know, because you want to make sure you really appeal to that target audience,” he says. Hasanradja made clear choices for his lunchroom based on this information. “No graffiti art, but a homely space. A more expensive but very good coffee, a newspaper subscription, practical things like that. And I also keep it in mind when hiring staff.” The location scan surprised him. “I did not know I could get so much information so easily and for free.” The scan is only available in Dutch.

4. Get to know your region

As an entrepreneur, you want to know what is happening in your sector and your area. KVK Regiodata gives insight into local economic developments. You can zoom in on, for example, shopping areas, business parks, the number of offices, and the labour market.
“Regiodata has a lot of information”

Solange Walop is owner of marketing consultancy SCC Consultancy. She advises entrepreneurs on customer and employee loyalty and growth. Market research is an important aspect of her services. “And you can largely do that with this data,” she says, adding, “Because it is from KVK, you know the data is reliable. Another advantage is that you can easily copy and paste the visuals and graphics into your own reports and presentations.” KVK Regiodata is only available in Dutch.
 

Walop is enthusiastic about the possibilities offered by KVK Regiodata. “You can find and compare a lot: information about regions, economic trends, your benchmarks. This information is also useful if, for example, you want to open more branches or offer a service on a market that is new to you. You can find information on the economic structure of different regions and industries.”

Walop recommends targeted searches in the tool. “Regiodata has a lot of information. So, it is useful to think in advance about what exactly you want to know.”