Methodology
Our evidence standard
An opportunity is a set of claims: about customers, money, operations and rights. We separate those claims, check them as far as we can, and label each one so you can see exactly what has been checked.
Claim categories
- Market
- How many potential customers there are, and how they buy today.
- Customer demand
- Whether real customers want this, at what price, and how we know.
- Financial
- Revenue, costs and margins: actual figures and estimates, kept apart.
- Operations
- Suppliers, premises, systems, people and licences the business depends on.
- Ownership & rights
- Whether the owner has the right to sell, transfer or license what is offered. We check documents; we don't give legal advice.
Confidence labels
Every claim carries exactly one of these labels.
We have seen the primary documents behind the claim, such as invoices, management accounts or signed letters, and they match it.
Limits: This is not an audit. We check that documents support the claim, not that they are authentic beyond reasonable doubt.
Supported by our own customer interviews, surveys or demand tests. We state the sample size.
Limits: Samples are small. Demand later, at scale or at a different price may differ.
Consistent with at least one independent source, which we cite.
Limits: Public sources can be dated or describe a broader market than this opportunity.
Stated by the owner or creator. We have not checked it yet.
Limits: Treat it as unchecked.
A projection or model by SiteQuest or the owner, with the assumptions listed.
Limits: An estimate is not a forecast of results. Change an assumption and the number changes.
We looked for evidence and found it missing or contradicted.
Limits: We keep these claims visible so you can see what didn't hold up.
Evidence grades
Each opportunity as a whole gets one grade, based on its claim labels.
Screened — not validated
Desk research is done and every claim is labelled. Most claims are owner-stated or corroborated; few have been tested.
Validated — key claims tested, outcomes not guaranteed
Demand claims are customer-tested and the key financial claims are document-checked. Open risks are listed.
Build-ready — not guaranteed
Validated, plus an operating plan, costings and supplier checks, so an operator can start building.
What “SiteQuest Verified” means
It means
- The opportunity has reached at least the Validated grade under this standard.
- Every material claim carries a label and, where one exists, its source.
- The owner has signed a declaration that what they shared is true and complete.
- Open risks are listed alongside the claims.
It does not mean
- An audit, a valuation or a fairness opinion.
- Legal, tax or financial advice, or a recommendation to buy.
- A prediction that the opportunity will succeed.
- Endorsement by any government agency or industry body.
Corrections
If we find that a label was wrong, or new evidence changes it, we update the package, record what changed and when, and tell everyone who received the earlier version. Labels are only ever changed with a dated note; we never edit them silently.
What we turn down
We decline opportunities we can't check, or whose claims don't hold up. We'll publish the share of applications we decline once we have screened our first 20.