Guides: BUS 461: Entrepreneurship: Company Information

Who are your competitors and what are their strengths and weaknesses?

Browsing the Company Profiles in Business Source Elite, Alphabetically:

1. Click the Company Profiles link at the top of the screen. The Company Profiles List Screen appears with the beginning of the list displayed. You can use the Next | Previous and A - Z links to page through the Company Profiles List.

2. Enter your search terms in the Browse field. You can enter all or part of a company name. (For example, you could enter GE, or General, or Gen.)

3. Select a search type:

Alphabetical - Finds companies beginning with the letters you entered. Results are displayed in alphabetical order.

Browsing the Company Profiles by "Match Any Words"

Match Any Words - Finds companies with one or more of your terms in the company name. Results are displayed in order of relevance to your search terms.

Click Browse to view a Result List of companies that match your search terms. Use the Next | Previous links to page through the list of results. To print, e-mail or save several search results, open the detail view for each item and add to the folder.

Other Sources of Company Profiles:

Kijiji This link opens in a new window
Kijiji lets you browse online classified ads from major cities across Canada and the United States. You can identify small and home-based businesses that may not appear in any other directory. You can begin with the Kijiji site for Hamilton.

It can be difficult to identify small, local businesses in standard company directories or databases. Think outside the box and try the following resources:

Yellow pages Directory (Canada) This link opens in a new window
The Yellow Pages Directory is great for identifying small businesses in Canada. Search by name, by keyword, or browse by category.
Yellow Pages directory (U.S.) This link opens in a new window
Manta This link opens in a new window
Manta is an online community dedicated to small business. You can search by company name, category, or location. It includes companies in Canada, the US, the UK, and other countries worldwide.

Canadian Trade Directories

Frasers Canadian Trade Directory This link opens in a new window
"Frasers is a comprehensive directory and search tool, providing information on Canadian industrial wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors and their products and services. In addition, we list international companies that supply goods and services to the Canadian marketplace. Search our Frasers database by company, product or brand name, or find a specific item on any of listed company websites by selecting our Industrial Search, or view company listings by searching our Directory of Companies" (Frasers.com)

International Trade Directories

Alibaba
A global marketplace for online sourcing and shopping. Search by product, filter by country/region, category. Some profiles include product details and prices or price ranges.

ThomasNet This link opens in a new window
A platform "for Supplier Discovery and Product Sourcing"

Trade Associations

Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association

Trade associations often do their own market research for members. Data may be made available on the association website. Here are some examples:

Directory of Business and Trade Associations This link opens in a new window
Source: Industry Canada