# What you learn from counting. > Counting method, public data, field signals and the ones we got wrong. The first piece is live, the rest of the lineup lands in September 2026. Source : https://scalon.fr/en/blog --- The blog · Opening September 2026 Every piece produces numbers, methods and mistakes that do not fit in a spreadsheet cell. We publish them, including when they contradict us. One piece is already live. The next ones land from September 2026, one a month. [Counting · already published How many auto repair shops are there really? The industry study says 25,000. The relevant activity labels count 101,989. Here are the seven deductions that separate the two numbers, the ones we apply, the one we refuse to apply, and the figure left at the end. Surveyed July 2026 · 96 districts Read the piece →](/en/observatory/car-repair-shops) ## The lineup, from September The subjects are written, the numbers are collected, the pieces are not drafted yet. We would rather say so than show cards that lead nowhere. To be told about the first one, an email address is enough. Public data ### What a classification code will never tell you about your market An activity label is an administrative declaration, not a field reality. The six gaps we measure every time between the registry and what we find by reading. Coming Signal ### Reading a drinks menu to qualify a bar Happy hour, signature cocktails, what sits on the back bar: three margin markers readable online, and how we turn them into a column. Coming Method ### Turning "our typical customers" into checkable criteria The exact structure of the scoping call, question by question, with the four traps that derail a scope before collection even starts. Coming Freshness ### Measuring the real churn of a local scope Closures, takeovers, relocations, ownership changes: what we observe across twelve months of tracking, and what it costs a purchased database. Coming Compliance ### Prospecting owners without leaving public sources Registries, company websites, reviews: what holds up, what does not, and how an opt-out register is actually kept. Coming Signal ### The lift, the pit and the power bench Three pieces of shop equipment, three ways to spot them without walking through the door. The full reading guide from the automotive piece. Coming ## In the meantime, the count is already public. The Observatory publishes one market a month, headline number up front, method and scope written out in the open. It is the same material as the blog, without the editorial packaging. The [auto parts case study](/en/cases/auto-parts) shows what that count becomes once it is sorted for a sales team. Not ready to talk yet? [Size your addressable market](/en/tools/local-tam). [See the Observatory](/en/observatory)