Media Buying Agencies · the United States
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Net establishment formation, 5yr | +0.06% |
| Standing among all industries | 48th of 287 |
| Reads as | roughly in balance |
| Signal strength, backtested | ρ 0.57 over 4 windows |
Among 287 industries, this one sits at the 48th percentile on net establishment formation over 2019-2023 — it is roughly in balance. That signal carries a measured rank correlation of 0.57 with the following decade's growth across 4 backtested windows, separating top and bottom deciles by 42.6 percentage points. It describes the INDUSTRY, not a business in it, and it was calibrated against establishment growth rather than returns to an operator.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Operators | 553 |
| People employed | 19,416 |
| Pay per employee | $112,826 |
| What the work is | Advertising Sales Agents |
| Median wage, that occupation | $64,260 |
| Licensed in | 10 jurisdictions |
| Dimension | Weight | Evidence | Predicts? |
|---|---|---|---|
| O1 · Demand density and recurrence | 25 | evidenced | predictive |
| O2 · Payment evidence | 15 | partial | not backtested |
| O3 · Licence gate favourability | 15 | evidenced | not backtested |
| O4 · Labour availability | 15 | evidenced | not backtested |
| O5 · Incumbent weakness | 10 | no producer | not backtested |
| O6 · Margin structure | 10 | partial | not backtested |
| O7 · Ceiling | 10 | evidenced | DESCRIPTIVE ONLY |
65 of 100 rubric points are evidenced, 25 partially, 10 have no producer. No total score is rendered from that. PREDICTS is a separate question from EVIDENCE: a dimension can rest on a real sourced figure and have no measured relationship with what happens next.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Acquisition loans approved | 28 |
| Median loan | $298,208 |
| Mean rate | 8.19% |
| Mean term | 112 months |
| Charged off | — |
Only 12 seasoned loans have reached an outcome in this industry — too few to publish a rate. That is a thin lending history, which is itself worth knowing before assuming a lender will fund your deal. SBA 7(a) FOIA data, FY2013–FY2026. Loans to acquire an EXISTING business, separated from start-up lending by the SBA's own business-age field. Charge-off is measured on RESOLVED loans only — a loan approved last year has not had time to fail.
| Revenue band ($000) | Firms | Share | Labour share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| <100 | 84 | 12.7% | 40.6% |
| 100-499 | 184 | 27.8% | 32.0% |
| 500-999 | 86 | 13.0% | 28.8% |
| 1,000-2,499 | 92 | 13.9% | 27.6% |
| 2,500-4,999 | 64 | 9.7% | 26.3% |
| 5,000-7,499 | 34 | 5.1% | 24.6% |
| 7,500-9,999 | 15 | 2.3% | 12.1% |
| 10,000-14,999 | 17 | 2.6% | 26.1% |
| 15,000-19,999 | 16 | 2.4% | 26.8% |
| 20,000-24,999 | 7 | 1.1% | 17.9% |
| 25,000-29,999 | 6 | 0.9% | 39.1% |
| 30,000-34,999 | 8 | 1.2% | 20.1% |
| 35,000-39,999 | 4 | 0.6% | 26.7% |
| 40,000-49,999 | 5 | 0.8% | 40.0% |
| 50,000-74,999 | 12 | 1.8% | 26.9% |
| 75,000-99,999 | 4 | 0.6% | 15.1% |
| 100,000+ | 25 | 3.8% | 25.6% |
Payroll is 25.6% of receipts industry-wide across 663 firms. LABOUR SHARE, NOT MARGIN: Census publishes receipts and payroll and never cost of goods, so gross margin cannot be derived and is not claimed here. Enterprise receipts — a firm counted once at its total size, not per location. Census SUSB 2022.
| Gap |
|---|
| licence titles in this scope — none matched 'Advertising Sales Agents', though it is licensed in 10 jurisdictions nationally. The title differs locally, or the record is held municipally. |
| occupation mix for NAICS 541830 — the labour statistics carry no rows at this level, so everything about occupations here, including the defining occupation and its licence gate, is measured at NAICS 541800, a broader grouping. Establishment counts are for 541830 itself. |
| licence coverage — the register holds 54 of 56 US licensing jurisdictions, and 2,504 of its records carry no jurisdiction at all. A count of 10 is out of 54 searched, not out of 56. The unsearched jurisdictions are not evidence of no licence. |
| bonding_required_usd — no producer, and not estimated |
Stated rather than filled. An absence of match is not an absence of fact.
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