Head of User Services
& Business Librarian
Use the resources on this page to learn identify companies in the industry, or to analyze peers and competitors in the industry.
Visit my Company Research Guide for more in-depth company research tips.
Identify Companies & Competitors in the Industry
- Search D&B Hoover's for companies within the industry
- Use the company news, SWOT Analysis, Analysis Reports, and Peer Analysis to understand the companies within the industry
- D&B Hoovers
Use for company profiles, news, analyst reports, SWOT analyses, executive information, company financials, and more. Note: If you have trouble logging in, try opening the link in an Incognito or Private browser window.
- Mergent Intellect
Use to find companies and competitors by user-defined search criteria, such as size, location, industry, sales, and more. Useful for private company information which includes estimated sales.
- PrivCo
A fantastic source for business and financial research on non-publicly traded corporations, including family-owned, private equity-owned, venture-backed and international unlisted companies. The primary area of focus is on private companies with at least $1 Million in annual revenue or $1 Million in VC/PE funding.
Gather Local Company Information
Gathering information about companies in your local market can be challenging, as you are often dealing with small private companies or subsidiaries of larger companeis. Use the resources below to find out information about companies in your local market. For more resources, check out my Private Companies research page.
- Use Mergent Intellect to identify and locate potential competitors in your industry.
- Is there room in the market for your new business?
- How are the other companies doing? (look at estimated sales)
- Mergent IntellectUse to find companies and competitors by user-defined search criteria, such as size, location, industry, sales, and more. Useful for private company information which includes estimated sales.
- In addition to understanding the industry's health in your region, you can use the "Industry Market Report" in Bizminer to generate a list of competitors.
