BA 680/ BA 685: Business Intelligence Master's Project

Researching Private companies is more challenging than publically traded companies. 

Small Private Companies try:

Social Media “cyber sleuthing”

1. Visit the official company website. Read “about us,” the “mission, vision, purpose,” “company directory,” look to see if they have a “news” or “press release” section.
2. Look for them on social media, LinkedIn (search for the company), X, Instagram, FB, other social media platform.
3. Search for news about your company, its products, the people in the company

i. Use library News searches (we cover local, regional, state, and international news with our subscription databases)

ii. Google – “advanced searching”

Larger Private companies:

Try Mergent Online (library database), 20 Million plus in revenue will have an entry in Mergent. The information will be minimal as there is no reporting requirements. 

DataAxle (Formerly Reference USA) often has entries for small companies.

Sign up for a free account for Cruchbase (we do not have a subscription) a limited number of searches can be completed for free. Academic Research Access sign-up with Crunchbase for faculty and graduate students 

Currently enrolled students, faculty, and staff have the ability to access library resources. Reminder: Off-campus access to library resources requires your campus username and password. For more see our FAQ on off-campus access

Scroll down on this page for a selection of databases for researching company profiles, reports, and snapshots, Some of these resources also provide options to search for news related to a company. There is also a guide for Business News for your reference. 

(coverage = Global, active public companies.)

What type of company searches can be executed?

• Company search based on country, state, industry classification and multiple financial metrics
• Sustainability (ESG) ratings
• Company filings -Independent research scores and reports
• Company reports – fundamental, independent research, ESG, sustainability, annual reports (Source: Mergent Market Atlas)

Database Note: There are 23 simultaneous users allowed for this premium database. If you are attempting to use and encounter a message about not being able to log-in, wait a few minutes and try again. Also you can reach out to Business and Economics Librarian if assistance is needed with navigation of this resource. 

Change the top menu to company to search publicly traded companies. 

Several means to locate information on companies within this resource.

• Company reports (by Marketline formerly Datamonitor). 
  • Advanced Search for more browse options including
    • SWOT Analyses

Use the advanced search feature in ABI/Inform. The "company" look-up feature will show you a list of names along with the number of article hits (results). For example - a search on "Peloton" pulls up variations on the name, select the one(s) you wish to view the results for. Evaluate the articles to ensure relevance to your report.

Researching Private companies, you may also want to add in a search of  Private company research reports (a source within ABI/Inform)

'Currently, we cover about 65,000 Private Companies from 34 countries. We are steadily building up our cover. The articles vary in response to the data available. Triggers are broadly the companies’ own Releases, which we supplement with our research on its corporate profile, including its activities, ID and contacts, its Financials (where disclosed), its recent previous releases over a trailing period (dependent upon the number) and its top management." (Souce: Newsbitesfinance).

Help guide from Westlaw on How to conduct comprehensive research on both private and public companies - https://answers.legalprof.thomsonreuters.com/publicrecords/conduct-research-on-