Whether for competitive intelligence or sales lead research, the free Web sites and library databases listed here are the best you'll find for researching a company.

An in-depth investigation and analysis of your competition allows you to assess your competitor's strengths and weaknesses in your marketplace and helps you to choose and implement effective strategies that will improve your competitive advantage.

Examine your business and its key operations, policies and relationships with customers to determine what you should work on to compete more effectively.

Investigation and analysis of your competition and potential customer base are major components of a comprehensive market analysis. This checklist of resources for gathering market data provides perspective regarding common market research tools and methods.