SIC code 7389: business services, not elsewhere classified

This page is for anyone asked for a SIC code who runs a business service, anyone who found 7389 on an old record or an SEC filing, and sellers handed a list coded 7389.

What SIC 7389 covers

SIC 7389 sits in Division I (Services), Major Group 73 (Business Services) and Industry Group 738 (Miscellaneous Business Services). The 1987 manual defines it as establishments primarily engaged in furnishing business services not elsewhere classified, on a commission or fee basis, and gives bondspersons, drafting services, lecture bureaus, notaries public, sign painting, speakers' bureaus, water softening and auctioneering as examples. Auctions of used cars and of agricultural commodities such as livestock are excluded: they're wholesale trade.

OSHA's copy of the manual lists more than 130 activities under 7389, among them telemarketing, telephone answering, trade show arrangement, packaging and labeling, translation, interior design, map making, repossession, swimming pool cleaning, process serving and yacht brokers.

"Business services" in SIC is the whole of Major Group 73, not one code. The group also has specific industries for advertising (731), credit reporting and collection (732), mailing, copying and stenographic services (733), services to buildings (734), equipment rental (735), personnel supply (736) and computer services (737). Use 7389 only when none of those fits: an advertising agency is 7311, a collection agency 7322, an employment agency 7361.

The NAICS codes that replaced 7389

The Census Bureau's concordance splits 7389 into pieces and sends each to a NAICS code; carried forward to 2022, that's 42 codes. These are the main ones. Establishment counts are County Business Patterns 2023 for the whole NAICS code; "only from 7389" marks the codes whose sole SIC predecessor is 7389, where the count is all former 7389 activity. Size standards are the SBA's, in average annual receipts.

A few pieces went to manufacturing and wholesale codes with employee-based standards, such as tobacco sheeting (312230, 1,500 employees) and yacht brokers and other agents (425120, 125 employees). The NAICS to SIC converter lists all 42.

How to choose

• Find your activity, then its code. Look for your service in the 7389 activity list, then take the NAICS code from the table or the converter. Don't pick from the code titles alone.
• Use the code for the largest share of revenue. A firm doing answering and telemarketing takes whichever earns more as primary.
• Fall back to the NAICS catch-alls only when nothing fits. 561499 All Other Business Support Services, 561990 All Other Support Services and 541990 All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services each have their own definitions; read them before you settle.
• Keep 7389 for forms that insist on SIC. On anything federal, use NAICS.

How many businesses were 7389

There's no current count for 7389 itself: County Business Patterns switched from SIC to NAICS in 1998. The closest measure is the 16 NAICS codes whose only SIC predecessor is 7389. In 2023 they had 68,258 establishments with paid employees and 825,396 employees. The largest employer among them is 561422, contact centers, with 344,605 employees in 3,106 establishments.

All 42 codes together had 273,582 establishments, but don't use that total: most of it is activity that came from other SIC codes, such as data processing in 518210 and wholesale brokers in 425120. CBP also leaves out the Postal Service (491110, which took post office contract stations), and the new 2022 code 519290 has no CBP count on the 2017 basis CBP uses.

SIC 7389 at the SEC

The SEC still assigns SIC codes. Its list gives 7389, "Services-Business Services, NEC," to two review offices, Trade & Services or Energy & Transportation, the only code on the list split that way. Some of the largest companies filing under 7389, with revenue from their latest annual report:

A card network, a consultancy and a delivery app share one code. That's the practical problem with 7389: a list built on it is broad by design. The EDGAR company list for SIC 7389 shows every registrant, and you'll need to sort them by what each one actually does.

Where 7389 gets used, and what a wrong code costs

Some banks, insurers and supplier portals still ask for SIC codes. 7389 is a valid answer, but it tells an underwriter or a buyer almost nothing about what you do. Where a form allows, add your NAICS code and a one-line description. Federal registrations, SBA size standards and IRS activity codes don't use SIC at all, so a 7389 answer there will be rejected or mean nothing.

For sellers, a list coded 7389 mixes call centers with design studios and repossession firms. Filter by the NAICS codes above or by description before you write a single email. Bebop finds companies from a plain-language description of the service they provide, which avoids the catch-all.

Worked example

Illustrative example. The company and figures are invented to show the method.

Lakeside Contact Services (lakeside.example) earns 60% of its revenue from outbound appointment-setting campaigns and 40% from answering phones for medical practices. Its bank asks for a SIC code; its SAM.gov registration needs NAICS.

1. SIC: 7389. Both telemarketing and telephone answering are listed activities.
2. Primary NAICS: 561422, Telemarketing Bureaus and Other Contact Centers, the larger share. Secondary: 561421, Telephone Answering Services.
3. Size: receipts over the last five fiscal years were $17.0, $19.5, $21.0, $22.5 and $25.0 million. That's $105.0 million divided by 5, or $21.0 million a year.
4. Result: Lakeside is small under 561422 ($25.5 million) but not under 561421 ($19.0 million), so it can't bid as a small business on a solicitation coded 561421.

Next step: look up the full definition of your NAICS match in the NAICS code lookup.