Research Edge

Tech Tools for Working Smarter

Working smart is essential to the success of a small business. Incorporating a variety of technical tools can more than replace clerical support.

Meeting scheduler. Setting up a multi person meeting via e-mail can be extremely frustrating. An on-line scheduling service such as Doodle makes it a snap. Indicate possible meeting times on the tool, e-mail to participants, and their color coded availability responses highlight the best date. Doodle also works for simple polls.

Web conferencing. Save time and money by meeting over the web rather than in person. DimDim is the product I use. It offers audio, video, screen sharing, and whiteboard functionality, with no software installation. The VoIP platform eliminates phone charges. Best of all, it’s free for up to five participants. Customizable pro and webinar versions are also available.

Organization. Tired of hunting for the notes from the last meeting? Evernote offers a tool for capturing information in one place– documents, scans, web pages, photos, screen shots. Everything is processed, indexed, and made searchable, even handwriting. You can add tags or group into notebooks for customized organization. Notes are searchable from anywhere, with apps for mobile devices.

No excuses!

Business Information – What’s not Free

Given the plethora of material on the Internet, many have the mistaken idea that key business information is available for free.  Here are several categories where you will likely have to pay.

Market research reports

 A number of firms do research across a range of industries, such as Freedonia, BizMiner, Frost & Sullivan, or Ibis World.  Others specialize in a particular area, for example, Neilson (media), SymphonyIRI (retail), Forrester (technology), or J.D. Power (automotive).  While you may luck into an executive summary, recent reports are rarely available for free.  In fact, most are quite pricey.  Various aggregators – MarketResearch.com, MindBranch, Alacra – offer the ability to search across multiple vendors and purchase individual reports. 

Journals and trade publications

Most periodicals covering cutting edge business and industry information are subscription based.  Data aggregators such as LexisNexis and Dow Jones (previously Factiva) allow detailed searches across many publications and the purchase of individual articles by subscription. Sites such as the Free Library  provide access to free, although not as extensive, content.  Publishers also may make older material available to the public.

Company information

Since reporting requirements for publicly traded versus private companies are not the same, freely available data will differ.  The Security & Exchange Commission’s EDGAR data base provides extensive material on public firms; one must generally extract information from individual reports.  Detailed data on private firms can be challenging.  Company websites offer a lot of material, but only what they want you to know.  A number of sites such as Hoover’s provide limited free information with the opportunity to purchased detailed data. The larger the company, the more content available.

A variety of information is available by fee.  Many firms provide detailed company profiles, executive profiles, financials, analysis and forecasts.  Company lists – including addresses, phone numbers, key executives, products, occasionally e-mails – can be obtained through InfoUSA or Dun & Bradstreet by subscription or by the record.  Credit reports are provided by Moody’s, Fitch, and S&P for major companies, while Skyminder, Cortera, and others cover the private market.  Information on deal flow – mergers & acquisitions, venture funding – is also available.  In fact, if there is a demand, someone is likely to have compiled the data you need.  Of course, for a fee.

Google Public Data Explorer

Compiling commonly used government statistics can be a tedious process.   I was excited to discover a new Google product that makes it a snap…Google Public Data Explorer.  http://www.google.com/publicdata/home  The application is still in Google Labs, their playground for products under development, but it shows real promise.  Data sets are limited at this point, but new choices are being added.

Guided by the most frequent queries for information of this type, Google tapped into statistics from agencies including the World Bank, Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and Centers for Disease Control.   Featured are a variety of metrics relating to population, employment, GDP and personal income, world development indicators, cancer rates, and others.  Most can be broken down into subsets for further analysis. 

Here is the result of a query comparing the trend in unemployment for the metro New Orleans area to the nation as a whole.  http://bit.ly/av4WH4   Creating the entire graph required less than a minute, including adjustments to the time period displayed.  Note the Katrina related spike. 

This example shows how various states compare on cancer rates:   http://bit.ly/9bW64j  I had no idea that Maine led the nation!

The tool has nice features.  Data may be displayed as a line graph, bar chart, map, or bubble diagram.  There is the option to export for incorporation into a web site or e-mail.  (Although Wordpress does not support the snippet currently generated; hence the links above.)  And if desired, the saved query automatically updates as new data is added.

Forbes’ Best Places for Business and Careers

Forbes just released another ranking, The Best Places for Business and Careers.  New Orleans rated very poorly, coming in at #190 out of 200 large metro areas.  While a low ranking is cause for concern in the economic development community, many seem to disagree with the assessment.  New Orleans has become a hub of entrepreneurial activity.  Educated, engaged young professionals are drawn to the city by the desire to make a difference. 

How was this list derived? As Forbes explains, “we ranked areas on 12 metrics including costs (business and living), job growth (past and projected), income growth, educational attainment and projected economic growth.  We also factored in quality-of-life issues like crime, cultural and recreational opportunities as well as net migration patterns. Lastly we examined the percentage of subprime mortgages handed out over a three-year stretch and the number of highly ranked four-year colleges in the area, per our annual college rankings.” While the exact methodology is not explained, metro rankings are presented on each of three scales, cost of doing business, job growth, and educational attainment. 

New Orleans didn’t rate too poorly on the Cost of Doing Business, an index based on the cost of labor, energy, taxes, and office space.   According to Sperling’s Best Places, our overall cost of living index (which covers overlapping variables) is 91, or 9% lower than the national average.

We ranked much lower, 137^th, on Projected Job Growth, based on 3 year annualized figures.  It is not possible to examine the data, which is attributed to Moody’s Economy.com, a proprietary source. This ranking seems a bit curious, given that New Orleans is perceived to be riding out the recession better than most places, largely due to post hurricane spending. 

Lower still is Educational Attainment, defined as the share of the population over 25 with a bachelor’s degree or higher.  We ranked 147^th.  There is no arguing with the stats here – only 23.5% of our adult population has a college degree compared to 27.7% nationwide. 

As for the other variables, crime likely cancelled out any plusses derived from our culture, in-migration, or dearth of subprime lending.  We had 3 universities listed in Forbes’ top 600 – Tulane (168^th), Loyola (280^th) and Dillard (494^th).    

Let’s keep promoting the non-statistical stories that highlight our positive trends!

EDGAR – Public Company Information

Publicly traded companies are required to file reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  These provide a wealth of information for research purposes over and above the financial data.  The reports are available via EDGAR, the Electronic Data-Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval system.  Access is free through SEC’s web site, although fee based sources such as EDGAR OnLine or Morningstar offer enhanced search capabilities. 

Financial statements form the core of the filings, and provide a source for the public to use to judge the investment potential of a company’s securities.  But other information is extremely useful for research on companies and individuals.  Filings provide:

• Information about the company’s business, including:  year organized; form of organization; subsidiaries; principal products, markets, and distribution methods; number of employees and anticipated change by department; competitive conditions; and research and development.   
• A list of the company’s officers and directors, including executive compensation and info on insider transactions and beneficial owner ship interest.  
• Information on anticipated mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, bankruptcy petitions, and pending legal proceedings
• A list of all SEC registrants in a particular state or foreign country.  Companies are also classified by industry utilizing SIC codes.

The SEC has published a guide that explains exactly where to find this information and more.   Add EDGAR to your list of free tools for public company research!

Free Company Information

I’m often asked about free sources of company information.  Does no cost data exist?  The answer is yes – up to a point.

Basic company information can be obtained through several web based sources. Searchable by name, geography, or industry Hoover’s provides profiles for larger businesses, both US and international.   ZoomInfo offers similar data via a quick search by company name.  If you are looking for information on a small business, Manta can be useful, with 64 million listings across the globe.  For publicly traded companies, Corporate Information has company snapshots and investment quality ratings.

Other sites can be useful for finding suppliers by industry.  Kompass and Alibaba have an international focus, and are searchable by name, industry, and geography.  Business.com and AllBusiness offer industry based company listings, as well as a wealth of other information.  For industrial companies, Thomas Register and MacRae’s Bluebook are helpful. 

Don’t overlook the public library!  Many libraries subscribe to ReferenceUSA, a company data base including over 14 million U.S. businesses.  RefUSA is searchable by name, SIC or NAICS code, geography, business size, and other categories.  It provides data generally found in company data bases, including company profile, top executives, products/services, number of employees, and estimated sales.  It also contains a credit rating score and UCC filings (property pledged as collateral to creditors).  Searches may be downloaded, but there is a limit on the number of records.

A wealth of information can be found on publicly traded companies.  Their mandatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission can be found on EDGAR.  Annual reports also contain great data, and are available via AnnualReports.com or Public Register OnLine. 

Also check corporate registrations; the Secretary of State generally houses this data.  Louisiana has an easily searchable listing – LA Corporations DataBase.  And don’t forget to review the company’s own website. 

Unfortunately, more sophisticated information – credit reports, expert analyses – is not available for free.   Many “free” sources encourage you to purchase in-depth data.  Fair enough.

New Year’s Resolutions

A new year, new web site, new puppy.  There are a lot of similarities between running a research business and training a dog, and I have 2010 resolutions for both.

Much to explore.   For me, this means my first attempt at blogging and tackling the mysteries of Twitter.    I will not be intimidated by the unknown!  I will help Puppy to discover the world to the fullest while protecting her and our property.

Goal setting.  I just finished updating my marketing plan, and pledge to evaluate progress monthly.  Puppy will be totally potty trained by six months.  Metrics on this one are easy!

Structure.  I promise to avoid procrastinating on those accounting tasks that I don’t enjoy.  And I will consistently and firmly respond to Puppy’s annoying behaviors.

Skills development.  I will take advantage of webinars, conferences, and other tools to enhance my research ability.  Puppy will go to obedience class when she is old enough. 

Patience.  I will not become frustrated when my business does not evolve as quickly as I would like.  Likewise, no grumbling over cleaning up yet another accident. 

Balance work and play.  No matter how busy, I will religiously make time for lunch with friends and a round of golf.   Puppy will take time out from chasing squeaky toys to learn the basic commands.

Hopefully, the Business and Puppy will each be flourishing by December!