This is Part 2 of a 3 part series and it takes a look at the advantages and limitations of free Web resources for competitive intelligence. Free resources abound on the open Web, and while they do offer some advantages they also have limitations on what is actually considered free.
The most obvious yet perhaps often overlooked resource for company information is the Website of the company and can generally be found via a Google search or educated guess of the URL for the company. While arguably the company's site may be mostly marketing in nature, often valuable and accurate information such as names of the executives, phone number, address etc. can be gleaned from the site.
Company directories are abundant on the free Web. Dun and Bradstreet offers a free search to quickly determine if a company has a report on file before paying for it either directly on the site or getting it via the gateway on Lexis or Westlaw. One can also get free basic directory information on companies from Hoovers and ThomasNet. Secretary of State business filings are also a great resource for company information. LLRX.com Directory of Business Filings provides an excellent and regularly updated directory of links to the Websites for all 50 States business filings. All of these resources are great starting points for free, albeit limited, information on companies. The more detailed information contained in business filings will incur a cost, albeit generally reasonable, and may require a subscription or payment by credit card for access.
If you are seeking information on a non-profit company try Guidestar. It is a wonderful resource for information on not for profits which includes free basic directory information and access (requires registration) to the form 990s for the company.
Website directories for company research are also abundant on the Web. Zimmerman's Research Guide offers a great article on company information which provides links to all of the resources discussed. Similarly, the Justia.com business research page offers a directory of links to resources for news, executives, ratings, filings, and watchdog groups for businesses.
Clearly, the Web offers plenty of free options for competitive research but the term free is not always as straight forward as it may seem. Often, the "free" resources are very limited in what they actually offer at no cost. But if you are prepared to hit a pay-wall at some point and understand the limitations of "free" these resources can provide a great foundation for the first phase of your company research.
Next up will be Part 3 where we'll cover Web-based databases accessible via many public libraries resources.
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