Every founder needs a plan. But a business plan is only as strong as the data behind it, and for early-stage entrepreneurs, knowing whether their financial projections actually hold up against industry reality can make the difference between securing a loan and walking away empty-handed.
That's exactly the challenge that Unternehmenswerkstatt Deutschland (UWD) set out to solve. Based in Hamburg, UWD is a joint project of the participating Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHKs) and their partners across Germany. Their online portal provides digital tools and expert guidance to founders, startups, and companies navigating financial difficulty—giving entrepreneurs access to everything they need to build a credible, structured, and investment-ready business plan.
We recently sat down with Jan Schlüter, who has spent 10 years working for the Chamber of Commerce in Hamburg, to learn how UWD integrated IBISWorld directly into their platform via API, and what that means for the founders they support. Watch the full video below.
Bringing industry intelligence into the data room
Before the API integration, the process was fragmented. Founders and their expert advisors would log into the UWD data room to work on their business and financial plans, then separately log into IBISWorld to pull industry data—two platforms, two logins, twice the friction.
Using IBISWorld's API, UWD embedded live industry report data directly into their project rooms. When a founder is working on their plan, they can search for their industry, for example, Fruit and Vegetable Retailers in Germany, and instantly access key data including industry highlights, key players, products and services, external drivers, and SWOT analysis.
As Jan explains: "Without the API, they would log into their data room, then they'd have to log into IBISWorld separately to get that industry information. Using API calls, all of that information is in one place."
Grounding financial projections in reality
One of the most valuable use cases for UWD is financial benchmarking. When a founder submits a business plan, their expert advisor needs to assess whether the numbers make sense—not just in isolation, but relative to the broader industry.
Take profit margins. If a founder building a fruit and vegetable retail business projects an 18% profit margin, that figure sounds ambitious. With IBISWorld data integrated directly into the platform, the advisor can immediately see that the industry average is closer to 8.8%, a clear signal that the projection needs revisiting before it goes anywhere near a bank.
"We cannot know every figure," Jan says, "and industry reports are very, very helpful." IBISWorld's data gives advisors the reference points they need to have honest, informed conversations with founders, and to help them build plans that stand up to scrutiny.
Strengthening the path to funding
The end goal for many of the founders using UWD isn't just a polished document, it's a loan. Lenders want more than good intentions. By embedding IBISWorld industry data into their plans, SWOT analyses can be used to argue the case for entering a particular industry. Benchmark figures validate financial assumptions. And the structured, data-backed format signals to banks that the plan has been thoroughly reviewed.
"You can click on this button, put it in the PDF, and send it with your business and financial plan to your bank," Jan explains. "Then the bank also knows the business and financial plan has a very good level of structure and content."
When UWD's experts have reviewed a plan and the data supports it, they can tell a founder with confidence: "You can go through your bank. You have a very good financial plan. You have our feedback." That endorsement—backed by independent industry data—meaningfully improves a founder's chances of securing finance.
What the API makes possible
The integration goes beyond convenience. Embedding IBISWorld via API means that industry intelligence becomes a native part of the UWD workflow—not an add-on that gets skipped when time is short.
Every founder working through the UWD portal has access to the same quality data. Every expert advisor is working from the same benchmarks. And the entire process; from drafting a financial plan to reviewing it against industry averages to exporting it as a client-ready PDF, happens within a single, connected environment.
That consistency matters. It means better plans, more informed conversations, and stronger outcomes for the founders UWD exists to support.
UWD's story is a strong example of what becomes possible when industry data is built directly into the tools your clients already use. If you're already using IBISWorld and want to explore how the API could work within your own platform or workflow, speak with your IBISWorld Client Relationship Manager and walk you through what integration looks like for your team.
