Describe your audience and reporting goal. Makeform turns the brief into a structured survey for company size, ownership, industry, location, operating history, and program-specific questions.
Send responses to Google Sheets, Slack, and Zapier.
Sample prompts for the survey builder
Choose a prompt, tailor its reporting definitions, or send it to the Makeform builder. The structure is an example, not a live AI result.
Audience
Local businesses in an economic development district
Format
Branching survey with reporting bands
Prompt size
285 chars
Example survey structure
Branching survey with reporting bands
Business identity and primary location
Industry and NAICS code
Employee and revenue bands
Ownership characteristics
Locations and export activity
Suggested routing tags
Complete profiles
Needs follow-up
Reporting cohort
Define employee-count and revenue bands before collecting responses so every business is grouped consistently in the final report.
Step 1
Define
set reporting terms and response bands
Step 2
Collect
capture structured business characteristics
Step 3
Review
check completeness and resolve duplicates
Step 4
Report
group results without exposing respondents
Better business data
Define categories consistently, handle sensitive questions respectfully, and produce fields that can be summarized without recoding every response.
Use fixed employee, revenue, age, and location ranges that match your reporting plan.
Show certification details only when a respondent selects a related status, or hiring questions only when the business expects to recruit.
Explain ownership questions, offer Prefer not to answer, and omit details the analysis does not need.
Common survey programs
Adapt definitions and follow-up questions to the organization using the results.
Map industries, business ages, employment bands, outlook, and service needs.
Collect service categories, operating footprint, company size, ownership information, and self-reported status for later review.
Understand an association's member mix and segment communications by sector, size, market, or current priorities.
Record a business profile at entry, then use the same identifiers and measures in later progress surveys.
Survey workflow
Define the population and each answer, generate the survey, and test its categories before distribution.
State who should respond, the period covered, and the report or program supported.
Specify fields, response bands, optional sensitive questions, and branching rules.
Set reporting categories, add Other and Prefer not to answer, and test each path.
Share the link, review incomplete or duplicate profiles, and export structured submissions.
Collection method
A generated survey standardizes choices while leaving room for context.
Field guide
Keep definitions visible and collect only what the stated program needs.
Identity
Collect the name used for matching and an existing stable identifier. Keep respondent details separate so follow-up reaches the right person.
Industry & structure
Offer a manageable industry list with Other. Request a classification code only if reporting uses it, and ask legal structure separately.
Business size
Use non-overlapping employee and revenue ranges. Name the revenue period and explain who counts as a worker.
Ownership
Explain how ownership data will be used. Allow overlapping selections, self-description, and a way to decline optional questions.
Location & reach
Collect the primary location in structured fields. Add sites, service areas, customers, or export markets only when analysis needs them.
Status & follow-up
Operating history, self-reported status, outlook, and needs add context. Show documentation or follow-ups only when relevant.
Related tools
Pair the demographic profile with broader research, supplier intake, feedback, or general survey tools already available in Makeform.
Collect demographic responses when names and organization identifiers are not needed.
Open toolStudy markets, demand, competitors, and buyer preferences beyond the business profile.
Open toolStructure observations and responses about competitors in a defined business landscape.
Open toolCollect operational, contact, and service details when adding prospective suppliers.
Open toolMove an approved vendor from initial profile into your onboarding workflow.
Open toolStart a different survey from a plain-language description of its audience and goals.
Open toolFAQ
Practical answers for agencies, associations, procurement teams, and program managers collecting business profiles.
A business demographic survey collects structured characteristics about organizations: industry, structure, location, operating age, size bands, ownership, markets, and status. Organizations use results to describe a business population, plan outreach, establish a baseline, or organize supplier information.
Start with business identity and respondent role, then ask about industry, structure, location, operating age, size, and ownership or revenue categories needed for the report. Add relevant service area, hiring, assistance, or self-reported status questions.
Choose definitions that match your reporting framework and show exact, non-overlapping employee or revenue ranges. State who the employee count includes and name the revenue period. Labels such as small or large are too open to interpretation on their own.
Explain why ownership data is requested and how it will be used. Make sensitive questions optional when possible, allow all applicable categories, and offer self-describe and Prefer not to answer. Do not treat a response as proof of status or eligibility.
You can collect a self-reported type, issuer, identifier, expiration date, and optional supporting upload. Label it as submitted for review. A response or upload should not be presented as confirmation of certification, eligibility, approval, or acceptance.
Use structured choices for fields you will group or count. Keep bands mutually exclusive, include Other when lists may be incomplete, and separate location components. Use long answers for context, then test the export with sample records before launch.
Yes. Makeform is unlimited free for generating, editing, publishing, and collecting responses. The paid tier removes the Makeform badge. Adjust every field and answer choice before publishing.
Yes. Branch from industry, structure, status, hiring plans, needs, or self-reported certification. Show export questions only to exporters, for example. Keep core demographic fields consistent so responses remain comparable.
Turn reporting definitions into clear questions.
