It's Monday afternoon and you have just returned from an enjoyable lunch,
thinking that you will continue working on the task you started in the
morning. As you sit down to your keyboard, you notice a photocopied article
from a well-known industry magazine taped to your screen with a post-it note
tagged onto it. The note reads:
(article continued below ...)
"Who are they and where did they did come from?" - The
President
As you peel off the note, highlighted pieces of text jump off the page
and grab your attention. After examining the "must read text," you
realize what the president wants… information on the companies discussed
in the article. It may seem like a relatively easy mandate; however, there
is one snag. The majority of the companies that have been highlighted are
privately owned and your first instinct is that there might be a limited
amount of published information available.
To help you carry out this challenging mandate, here is a five-step game
plan that should assist you in finding information on private companies in
your industry.
Step
1: Don't panic
Panicking over a challenging mandate will not help. The emotion of fear
will cloud your ability to think clearly and will inhibit you from finding
the information that is wanted. Take a moment and put the mandate in
perspective. It is nearly impossible to gather every piece of data on a
private company. The best thing to do to alleviate the fear is to talk to
the internal client and ask what data is needed, not wanted, for strategic
planning purposes. (Remember, needing and wanting are two different things
when it comes to providing information. Needing implies that you must find
the data that will be used to make decisions. Wanting implies that the
client would be happy with whatever you find above the basics asked of you.)
Once you have a clear idea of your task, you should have a better idea of
the sources of information which you may consult. (For tips to handle
challenging searches for information read, "How to Deal With Impossible
Research Requests.")
Step
2: Search the free and private Web
With a clear mind, you are ready to take on the challenge. Depending on
your budget, you may have several different tools to utilize to gather
information. The two main online sources that you should turn to for your
task are the free Web and private Web. The free Web allows individuals to
access and obtain information for free. Here are a few tools and sources on
the Web that will help you start your mandate:
Search engines - Search engines such as Google, AllTheWeb, and
Teoma will provide you with Webpages and articles dealing with the company
which you are investigating. The Webpage may contain anything from a profile
of the company to a hyperlink to the company's Website. It is important to
note that if a keyword search is unsuccessful, do not be discouraged. In
addition, search tools such as Kartoo and the LinkPopularity can be used to
track alliances by discovering where the company's URL is posted on another
company Website.
Invisible Web - As mentioned in the article, "The
Invisible Web: Where Search Engines Fear to Go," there are billions
of online pages that are not indexed by search engines and they can be found
on the invisible Web. Tools that are used to search the invisible Web may
have the ability to provide you with data on the company. One piece of the
invisible Web is messages from discussion groups. Individuals who use
discussion groups often to voice opinions are open to talk about local
companies which have done something to irk or please them.
Website registry - If locating the company's Website is a
challenge, consider visiting the Website registry in the country of the
company. This source will inform you on the company's location on the Web if
the company's URL is not indexed by search engines. In addition, the
registry will provide full contact information for the company. For
companies in North America, visit Register.com.
The private Web is a restricted part of the Internet, where individuals
must pay to access content. The majority of the private Web is comprised of
online databases of publications that are published in hard copy around the
globe. If the company's name has appeared in the press, there is a good
chance that you can find articles or press releases courtesy of:
For financial data, individuals may consult the following sources:
To save time, consider using e-mail alerts provided by services named
above to screen the company's name in the press.
Step
3: Go to the library
At this stage of the game plan, it is time to go on a field trip to the
nearest library with resources dedicated to business students and
professionals. Libraries offer the lone competitive intelligence
professional who does not have the in-house resources the luxury of
consulting offline sources and asking questions to librarians. Here is a
list of reasons why you should visit the library for your researching needs
when gathering information on private firms:
Access to publications in hard copy or on microfiche - Although
there are private Web services which offer access to full-text articles,
some of the services restrict users from accessing the accompanying photos
and graphs. Obtaining the articles at local libraries will give you the
opportunity to read them on paper or on film without any omissions in terms
of content.
Access to full-version industry reports and newsletters -
Depending on the library's budget, they may be able to provide access to
specific industry reports and newsletters which are not online. The library
may select to subscribe to specific publications in order to address the
information needs of industries on a state or provincial and national
levels. The majority of the information is in hard copy and will have to be
photocopied to allow you to place it in your files.
Access to a full compliment of sources - Where else can a
competitive intelligence professional on a tight budget search the free Web,
the private Web, and access offline literature under one roof? For a small
fee, you could pull data on private companies within a matter of hours.
Step
4: Check government sources
Government at all three levels are great sources of information on
private companies. For any business to operate, the company must register
with governments and information collected on each company is stored
electronically and on paper. Gaining access to the data may take a bit of
effort depending on the governments' ability to place the information
online. If the information can not be found online, a visit to the
government regional office will allow you to gather data such as:
- A profile of the company
- Organizational structure - a list of individuals in top
management
- Annual reports
- Articles of incorporation
Before going out to collect the information that is located offline, you
should be familiar with the laws of your country regarding accessing
information that is not readily available such as annual reports of private
companies.
Step
5: Ask people in the know
One of the sources that is often overlooked when investigating private
companies are individuals that have been in contact with them in the past.
The majority of individuals who may hold information which may interest you
are:
- Customers
- Suppliers
- Reporters
- Competitors
- Industry experts / analysts
Gaining information from these individuals will take time. Cold calls
will be met with silence so it is important that you attempt to network and
interview with individuals in the know. Over time, the individuals will feel
at ease and will be able to assist you if you are trustworthy and honest. At
this point of the game plan, you may want to become familiar with the basic
interviewing techniques to gather information ethically.
Conclusion:
Finding information on private companies is a challenging mandate;
however, it is not an impossible task. With the vast amount of sources that
can be found online and offline, competitive intelligence must have a
structured game plan to follow to gather pieces of information that can help
them in their mandate. The game plan proposed in this article will lead the
lone competitive intelligence professional outside their office to search
for material that is not available online or on paper. In order to become
efficient in researching private companies, professionals must willing be
to: · Be patient · Explore new sources offline · Be persistence - do not
give up on the first attempt
Want to know more? The following books are available at Amazon.com:
- How To Find Information About Private Companies By Washington
Researchers World/Canada
- Competitive Intelligence : How to Gather, Analyze, and Use Information
to Move Your Business to the Top By Larry Kahaner World/Canada
- Super Searchers Go to the Source : The Interviewing and Hands-On
Information Strategies of Top Primary Researchers-Online, on the Phone,
and in Person By Risa Sacks, Reva Basch (Editor) World/Canada Online
Articles and Guides:
- Sources of Information on Privately Held Companies By Washington
Researchers
- Private Company Research By About.com
- Information Resources for Private Companies By The Sheridan Libraries
of John Hopkins University
-- Ian Smith holds a marketing degree from Concordia University in
Montreal, Canada. While working at Industry Canada, Ian contributed to a new
marketing plan for the information products of the Service Industries
Capital Projects branch. Interested in electronic commerce, Ian is always
seeking out new and innovative ways to do business on the Web. Ian is our
Marketing Manager. Ian can be reached at ian@competia.com
March 4, 2003
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