Every commercial trade has a dominant five-element nature. The audit reads this against the locale's element profile to compute compatibility. A trade thrives where the locale generates its dominant element (sheng cycle 生) and isn't suppressed by it (ke cycle 克).
Match the trade's element to the sector's element — Fire trades (cooking F&B) favour Fire/Wood sectors, Metal trades (finance, tech) favour Metal/Earth sectors. The table below is the public mapping; per-sub-category nuance is in the audit.
| Trade category | Primary | Secondary | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| F&B — cooking-led (zi-char, hawker, BBQ, grill) | Fire 火 | Wood 木 | Stove is the qi anchor. Strongest Period 9 fit. |
| F&B — beverage-led (cafe, bar, juice, bubble tea) | Water 水 | Wood 木 | Liquid throughput dominates. |
| F&B — health-led (vegetarian, salad, raw) | Wood 木 | Earth 土 | Plant + freshness element. |
| F&B — desserts / bakery | Fire 火 | Earth 土 | Oven + grain hybrid. |
| F&B — Chinese tea / wine | Water 水 | Wood 木 | Traditional liquid + heritage fit-out. |
| Retail — fashion | varies | — | By material: cotton = Wood; leather = Earth; metal jewelry = Metal; silk = Fire. |
| Retail — electronics | Metal 金 | Fire 火 | Hardware + powered. |
| Retail — homeware / furniture | Wood 木 | Earth 土 | Material-led. |
| Retail — beauty / cosmetics | Water 水 | Fire 火 | Liquids + colour. |
| Retail — books / stationery | Wood 木 | — | Paper / knowledge. |
| Retail — jewelry / watches | Metal 金 | — | Pure metal trade. |
| Retail — sports / outdoor | Wood 木 | Earth 土 | Activity + terrain. |
| Retail — grocery | Earth 土 | Wood 木 | Food storage. |
| Tech / IT / SaaS | Metal 金 | — | Hardware + structure. |
| Education / tuition | Wood 木 | Fire 火 | Growth + illumination. |
| Logistics / transport | Water 水 | Metal 金 | Flow + vehicles. |
| Construction / property | Earth 土 | Wood/Metal | Building + tools. |
| Healthcare — Western clinic | Wood 木 | Metal 金 | Healing + instruments. |
| Healthcare — TCM | Wood 木 | Earth 土 | Plant medicine + ground. |
| Healthcare — dental | Metal 金 | Water 水 | Instruments + procedures. |
| Healthcare — physio / chiro | Wood 木 | Earth 土 | Body work. |
| Beauty — salon / hair | Fire 火 | Water 水 | Heat tools + wash. |
| Beauty — spa / massage | Water 水 | Wood 木 | Liquids + relaxation. |
| Beauty — nail / lash | Water 水 | Metal 金 | Detail + instruments. |
| Finance / legal / accounting | Metal 金 | — | Structure + precision. |
| Insurance / brokerage | Metal 金 | Water 水 | Risk + flow. |
| Manufacturing — food | Earth 土 | Fire 火 | Cooked / preserved output. |
| Manufacturing — electronics | Metal 金 | Fire 火 | Hardware + heat. |
| Manufacturing — textile | Wood 木 | Fire 火 | Fibre + heat-process. |
| Manufacturing — chemical | Water 水 | Fire 火 | Liquid + reaction. |
| Consulting / advisory | Metal 金 | Wood 木 | Structure + ideas. |
| Marketing / creative | Fire 火 | Wood 木 | Visibility + ideas. |
| Design / architecture | Wood 木 | Metal 金 | Creation + precision. |
| Co-working / serviced office | Metal 金 | Wood 木 | Hub for many trades. |
| Childcare / preschool | Wood 木 | Fire 火 | Growth + warmth. |
| Pet (vet / grooming / retail) | Wood 木 | Water 水 | Life + care. |
| Religious / wellness centres | Earth 土 | Fire 火 | Grounding + illumination. |
Two F&B units at the same address can have opposite element profiles. Examples:
The intake captures both trade_category AND trade_subcategory. The full conditional tree of sub-categories lives in the proprietary scoring layer.
For genuinely unmapped trades (new concepts, hybrids, niche), the audit votes the element via:
The trade_description free-text on the intake form influences edge-case profiles.
The defining anchor is the active heat source — gas burner, charcoal, fryer, wok. Fire qi is generated continuously and the trade's identity depends on heat being visible, audible, and olfactory. The methodology treats this as the strongest possible Fire correspondence: the trade generates Fire qi, doesn't just accommodate it.
Best sectors: Geylang, Joo Chiat / Katong heritage, Bukit Timah F&B clusters, Bedok / Tampines mature-Earth (Fire sheng-generates into Earth). South-facing under Period 9 = double benefit.
Friction sectors: CBD (Metal ke-controls Wood, the fuel side), Marina Bay waterfront (Water directly ke-controls Fire), Tuas / Jurong (Earth drains Fire via sheng cycle).
Period 9: Strongest beneficiary in the entire commercial table. Li trigram = Fire trigram. Cooking-led F&B opening 2024-2032 has a structural tailwind that didn't exist in Period 8.
Espresso machines, ice, milk steaming, juicing — qi generation is in liquid throughput. Opposite element profile to cooking-led despite both being "F&B".
Best sectors: Marina Bay perimeter (Water-Metal), Robertson Quay, Bukit Timah / Holland / Dempsey (premium Wood-Earth), CBD professional clusters (Metal sheng-generates Water).
Friction: Geylang's supper-trade character clashes with beverage-led's day-time positioning. Orchard is operator-driven, not sector-lifted.
Period 9: Mixed. Trade isn't structurally disadvantaged but doesn't get the tailwind cooking-led does.
Plant matter as headline — fresh produce visible, herbs and greens as ingredient + decor. Wood is the growth element; the trade literally sells growth.
Best sectors: Bukit Timah / Holland / Dempsey (Wood-Earth premium-residential). CBD / Marina is operator/brand-driven.
Friction: Geylang (high contrast vs. cooking-led identity), Tuas / Jurong (wrong demographic).
Period 9: Neutral. Wood is sheng-generated by Water (suppressed under Period 9) and sheng-generates Fire (the period element). Net: neither rides nor fights.
Ovens dominate operational footprint, firing continuously. Earth secondary because raw inputs (flour, grain, dairy, sugar) are Earth-heavy.
Best sectors: Bishan / Toa Payoh / AMK (Earth-dominant), Orchard mall locations (impulse-purchase), Joo Chiat / Katong heritage.
Friction: Marina Bay (Water ke-controls Fire moderately), CBD pure-Metal pockets (Fire ke-controls Metal but demographic less dessert-driven).
Period 9: Strong. Same Period 9 Fire lift as cooking-led, slightly attenuated.
Same Water-liquid logic as beverage-led, but with a fermentation / aging dimension that's Wood-coded in classical theory (organic transformation, time-as-ingredient). Most heritage-trade in the F&B group.
Best sectors: Heritage corridors — Joo Chiat, Katong, Tiong Bahru, parts of Chinatown / Tanjong Pagar. Bukit Timah / Dempsey for premium wine concepts.
Friction: Modern-CBD locations (sector-qi character clashes with heritage positioning).
Period 9: Neutral-to-slight friction. Quiet-water trades sit one step removed from the period's fire-led lift.
Your Tier 1 audit reads your stated trade category against the unit's locale element profile and computes a trade_compatibility score. The match isn't binary — it's a five-element calculation across sheng, ke, and hua cycles, modulated by Period 9's Fire-dominance. The audit shows the math + names the specific sector/trade interactions driving the score.