Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know before you start scouting. Still stuck? Get in touch.

What is Scoutway AI?

Scoutway AI surfaces underserved local business opportunities — the categories your county has unusually few of compared with the rest of the country — and turns each gap into a step-by-step launch playbook tuned to your budget, skills, and city.

How does it find these opportunities?

It uses two US Census programs (2023): County Business Patterns, which counts businesses with paid employees, and Nonemployer Statistics, which counts sole proprietors with no payroll. We add them together and compare how many exist in your county per 10,000 residents against the national rate. A category well below that rate is flagged as underserved, and both numbers and the source year are shown with the signal so you can check them yourself. Counting only employers would miss most of these trades — nationally there are 66,608 cleaning businesses with employees and 1,033,095 without. During our research preview, the catalog of businesses is curated by hand rather than by automated scanning; what is automated is the county comparison, which runs against every US county.

Does Scoutway know that people want the business?

No — and this is the most important limit to understand. Scoutway measures supply, not demand: it counts how many businesses exist, never how many customers want one. A category your county has few of might be an opening, or it might simply mean there's less local demand for it. Every underserved signal ships with that caveat on its face. Treat it as a lead worth validating, not a verdict — the first real step is always talking to people who'd pay.

Is Scoutway AI free?

Yes. The Scout plan is free forever and includes 11 signals with their full launch playbooks — all of them available immediately, with no drip and no waiting. Paid plans (Operator and Founder) reach more of the catalog and add deeper features.

Do I need a credit card to sign up?

No. Creating a free Scout account takes about a minute and never asks for a card. You only add payment if you choose to upgrade.

What is the difference between the plans?

The catalog is 20 opportunities. Scout (free) reaches 11 of them, with full playbook access. Operator ($7/month) reaches 17, and adds county-personalized playbooks, catalog search and filters, the website builder, and saved tracking. Founder ($24/month) reaches all 20 and adds PDF exports. Every plan shows you everything it includes straight away — the difference is what you can reach, never how long you wait.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. Cancel from your account's billing settings whenever you like. You keep access to your paid features through the end of the period you already paid for, and you never lose your saved signals, workspace, or progress.

Is this financial or business advice?

No. Scoutway AI is a research and informational tool, not professional legal, tax, financial, or licensing advice. Revenue ranges are directional, not guarantees — starting a business is real work and real risk.

How current is the opportunity data?

The county comparisons come from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns and Nonemployer Statistics. Census publishes one vintage a year and it runs about two years behind — the current data is 2023, and every page names its year so you can judge it yourself. That is genuinely the freshest official count that exists. Nothing here updates daily or hourly, and any tool telling you a local business count is moving in real time is not reading Census.

Which categories have county data, and why only those?

Four: exterior and building services, cleaning, landscaping and lawn care, and pet care. We publish a category only when Census reports the businesses without employees as well as those with — for most of these trades the solo operators are the majority, and counting only employers gets the answer backwards. For handyman, car wash, junk removal, painting and moving, Census reports the sole proprietors only under a broader parent industry — all residential building construction in the handyman case, a bucket that also holds oil-change shops in the car wash case. Using those would mean printing a number about home builders under a headline about handymen, so we publish nothing instead. Junk removal has no county figure at all, at any width.

How do I get more signals?

Upgrade to Operator or Founder from your account page to reach more of the catalog. Whatever your plan includes is available to you immediately.