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SWOT Analysis

Explains and highlights resources to build a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) Analysis

Strengths

Strengths outline what a company does best and what separates it from the competition. This could include:

  • Strong brand
  • Loyal customer base
  • Solid balance sheet
  • Unique technology
  • Output efficiency 
  • Production scale
  • Creative talent

Additional examples can be found in this article, 26 Examples of SWOT Strengths. 

The databases listed on this page provide company background and financial data to help determine a company's strengths. When searching them, ask the following questions:

  1. What is the company's competitive advantage? 
  2. What resources do they have? 
  3. What products are performing well?

Public Company Data

  • Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly Reference USA) - can be used to locate companies and competitors by industry, location, and size. Displays of company listings include internal links to subsidiary and parent companies, where applicable, as well as lines of business, senior executives and their titles. All directory listings include names, addresses, telephone numbers, and an external link to a local map. 
  • MarketLine contains 30,000 company profiles, SWOT analyses, financial deals, and market share information.

  • Mergent Market Atlas (formerly Mergent Online) contains information about over 50,000 global, active public companies, as well as industry, country, sustainability, and macroeconomic data. Market Atlas also includes supply chain data, which is available via the Supply Chain option in the site header, and, within each company's profile, the Supply Chain tab.

  • SEC's EDGAR database - All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database.
  • Use Company Investigator in Westlaw Campus Research to identify legal ultimate and immediate parent companies and view corporate family tree structures. Access via the All Content tab in the Browse section of the home page. 

Private Company Data

  • PrivCo provides business and financial research on non-publicly traded companies, including family-owned, private equity-owned, venture-backed, and international unlisted companies. The database currently includes profiles for over 900,000 companies, 20,000 private equity and venture capital firms and investors, and 100,000 private market deals. 

  • Data Axle Reference Solutions (formerly Reference USA) - can be used to locate companies and competitors by industry, location, and size. It includes a directory of over 14 million U.S.and Canadian public and private companies. Displays of company listings feature internal links to subsidiary and parent companies, where applicable, as well as lines of business, senior executives and their titles. All directory listings include names, addresses, telephone numbers, and an external link to a local map.  

  • Use Company Investigator in Westlaw Campus Research to identify legal ultimate and immediate parent companies and view corporate family tree structures. Access via the All Content tab in the Browse section of the home page.

  • Information on searching private companies, including how to access some free sources from the Library of Congress website.

  • America's 1,000 Largest and Most Inspiring Private Companies from Inc Magazine and PrivCo.

  • America's largest private companies list from Forbes magazine.