Want to know how your business stacks up against the competition? With just a click of the mouse, you can check the strength of your vital signs against those of your peers at BizStats.

As its name suggests, BizStats provides access to business statistics—easily, instantly and free of charge—across industries and segmented by business structure. Much of the information is in the form of tables and charts providing national averages in a variety of categories. Find general information on the size of markets, the safest and riskiest small businesses or on rules of thumb for business valuation. Find specific information on profitability, balance sheet, operating and financial ratios for businesses just like yours. Reports include an explanation of how the data was tabulated, such as whether statistics are based on all businesses in a particular category or just on those that are profitable.

The site’s “Benchmark a Business in 5 Seconds” tool enables you to enter your annual revenue statistics and learn what other proprietors in your same field are taking home as net income. A special retail industry section provides information on sales per foot and explains why that benchmark is critical to store owners. Links to BizMiner.com facilitate access to additional fee-based industry reports and analyses.

To make the best use of the site, you should first determine which statistics and ratios are indicators of success in your line of work and then see how you fare compared to your competition. Use the data to determine “red flag” areas where you might be able to curb expenses and improve profitability.