quote:

Originally posted by d!abolic There are a few companies that i'd like to find the following info about : - annual revenues and sources - annual expenses and sources - reported profits How easy/hard would this be to do? How can i do it? Ideally, i'd like all of this info and then some, but all i really need are the revenues and their sources.

It would be fairly easy but tedius to find that out if they were publicly traded companies, since by law they need to disclose this info in their annual reports. Otherwise, they don't need to tell you anything, even if you called them and asked.

Looking up half a dozen values in half a dozen different annual reports is going to be a long and tedius process though.

Since I do this for a living, perhaps I can give you some advice.

If you call the companies directly and ask for this information, you're not going to get very far. Most companies keep their specific numbers quiet.

The best way to go about it is to talk with other companies in that market and find out: a) the size of the total market (total revenue), and b) market shares of the various competitors in the market. You can then build a model that is a very close approximation of what the specific company's revenue is.

Keep in mind that this applies to revenues, and to one specific product. If you're talking about different products, you may have to talk to somebody else in the company to get market information for that product.

The best people to talk to are: Product Managers, VP Sales, VP Marketing

I hope this helps... Cheers!

D&B provides databases with this type information.

http://www.dnb.ca/

It is not cheap.

___________________
- rabbit.joker [funny¿rabbit] | www.rabbitjoker.com |www.ddtt.org

Dark Dirty Tech Tribal. | Hands in air (trance) and feet on the floor (house).

Yearly profits and things like that are made public though, aren't they? Some of that info could be found on the company's website; but things like annual expenses...you'd probably have to steal some documentation from the accounting department

www.hoovers.com

What type of company do are you looking for?

Hoovers.com is for corporations, there are others out ther for many other types of companies. Again the service is not cheap. I work for a company that would list revenues for AD agencies. Again we are not cheap.

D&B provides this information for both private and public companies.

Since D&B is the standard in corporate credit - private companies submit information to them so that when credit checks are done they pass.

___________________
- rabbit.joker [funny¿rabbit] | www.rabbitjoker.com |www.ddtt.org

Dark Dirty Tech Tribal. | Hands in air (trance) and feet on the floor (house).

Interesting. Looks like it'd be easy enough to get their sales figures with D&B. Looking at like $110/ea. Now, how can i find out where these sales are coming from? Would a forensic accountant be able to do this if they're all private corps? And how much would it cost?

Now that you know of a company that specializes in this type of information. How bout calling customer service and ask that question?
They would be more knowledgable than anyone.

What companies are you looking for?

quote:

Originally posted by Time2Burn Now that you know of a company that specializes in this type of information. How bout calling customer service and ask that question? They would be more knowledgable than anyone.

A company like that would charge an arm and a leg because of high overhead. What I need a hardcore, unemployed, unshaven accounting major who needs money and has a lot of free time

They wouldn't charge you for asking if their service provides the information that you are looking for. Obviously as a consumer you want to be sure that the product you pay for will meet your needs.

Also there are annual publications like Brandweek that provide some of the info you need. I'm sure you could find it at any reference library.