I am looking to find information about the revenue of a number of specific small businesses. I realize it is easy to find this information for publicly traded companies, but is this possible to do for smaller, privately owned companies (without paying for this information)? I thought maybe some IRS database or state governing bodies might have that information publicly available. Thanks for any help!
I too would like to know if this is possible.
I work for a university and have access to a few business/market research databases that show revenues, credit ratings, management directories, etc. I don't know if they have information on private companies, but I can look for you. What companies are you interested in?
I am interested in nutraceutical companies, both large ones and small companies selling natural supplements (ie, fish oil, flaxseed, resveratrol, ginseng, etc.). I have names of various companies I was going to look up to use as examples, but was not interested in any specific company per se.
I actually have access to a university also - what databases are those, as I may have access also?
Reference USA may be worth looking into.
Check if your University library has access to Dunn & Bradstreet's "Million Dollar Database." It gives estimated revenue and profit information for many privately held businesses as well as shows the ownership family tree of which companies own which.
I believe that earnings/revenue of a private held company is private information. If it's a closely held company like a sole proprietorship, the owner is under no obligation to disclose financials to any member of the public. This company's financial info is analogous to your personal W-2 from your job - it's nobody's business but your own.