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.