Public companies have some financial disclosure via annual filings. Databases extract this data and make it more easily available for analysis.

See private company box below for information on private companies. 

Because there are no disclosure requirements for private companies, it can be difficult to find any information about them. 

Your best bet is to cast as wide a net as possible, using the following search strategies:

1. Look for basic information in company directories.  You may be able to find names of executives, number of employees or annual sales figures here. 
2. Use ProQuest, Factiva and Business Source Premier to find articles about the company.  You may find a profile of the company in a trade publication or in a local newspaper.
3. PitchBook tracks funding data if you're looking at start-ups.
4. If the company is large or multinational, check Capital IQ (available in the Finance Lab) as they may have some non-financial information. 
5. Google - check for a company website, LinkedIn page, news articles, etc.
6. Contact us if you're really stuck.

If the company was previously public but has gone private, you can still access their historical public filings from when they were a public company. Check Mergent.