Business Ownership Data

What is Business Ownership data?       

Business ownership data indicates which person or entity owns a business and the course of action that brought them the ownership. For example, if they started the company or acquired it. The details about the owner, including gender, age, and professional credentials, can also be part of this data. 

Business ownership data establishes if the business is owned by one person, different persons, a single entity, or multiple parties. Additional information includes the owners of the owning entities, company name and address, and the description of the business. 

Where does this data come from?   

The majority of the business ownership data comes from surveys of business owners. It can also be from information companies publish in the public domain,  company website, or social media channels. The  details about the business owners can come from various available sources such as their individual websites or social media pages.

What types of attributes should I expect when working with the data?  

Business ownership data attributes include standard information about the business owners, name, gender, age, education, and professional credentials.

The data is often refined into different business categories to help compare owners of businesses specializing in similar fields. Some of the data may also offer reports on women-owned or ethnic-minority-owned businesses.

How should I test the quality of the data?  

The data often comes from surveys and can be outdated. Your vendors must provide datasets updated regularly and reflecting all the changes to ownership. Historical ownership records are equally important to see the changes in ownership over time, assess possible reasons for the changes, and compare with other businesses operating in a similar field.   

To test the quality of the data:

• Validate that the databases are consistent and updated regularly. 
• Ensure that the data is relevant to your requirements, including geographical coverage.
• Confirm that the vendor and its sources are trusted.

Who uses Business Ownership data?    

A key use of this type of data is to validate the existence of a business and the identity of its owners. Another major use is for private equity (PE) risk analysis and management.

It can also be used for a broad overview of business owners involved in a similar field to compare businesses and business demographics. Organizations analyzing different verticals use the data data to categorize and compare companies on a multitude of attributes.

Business ownership data can augment various other categories of data, such as business registry data, for KYC and due diligence. Fraud investigators sometimes use this data for their research and analysis.

What are the common challenges when buying the data? 

Business ownership data is used for verifying businesses and analyzing ownership demographics. It data can be obsolete if sourced from old surveys. You also need to ensure that it aligns with your requirements and is privacy-compliant.

Common challenges that arise when buying the data are timeliness, compliance, and source credibility. 

• Data timeliness: The data evolves constantly over time, changing hands with mergers and acquisitions. All the changes may not be listed in the data if your vendor sources are not updated regularly. Outdated data is not useful. 
• Compliance: Business ownership data contains personal data subject to data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. As the privacy regulations vary by region, the data needs to be compliant with the regional laws.
• Source credibility: Vendors should regularly test their data for quality and integrity. It is important to trust the data that the vendor provides. 

Research and evaluation of vendors will help you overcome these challenges and choose the right one. You can also start with a small sample and assess if it matches your requirements.

What are similar data types?    

Business Ownership Data is similar to B2B Contact Data, B2B Leads Data, B2B Market Data, Firmographic Data, Technographic Data, and Business Registry Data. It can be used in conjunction with B2B Intent Data for marketing activities and Job Postings Data for hiring research.  

You can find a variety of examples of B2B and company data in the Explorium Data Catalog.

Sign-up for Explorium’s free-trial to access the data available on the platform.   

What are the most common use cases?

The most common use case for this type of data is to verify that a company exists and that it is owned by real persons or entities. This data is also used for PE risk analysis and due diligence. Key use cases for business ownership data are listed below.

• Private Equity (PE) risk analysis: Investment funds and individual investors planning to invest directly in private companies use business ownership data to assess Private Equity (PE) risk. They also use this data when planning buyouts of public companies and delisting the public equity.  
• Due Diligence: Before entering into any proposed business transactions, potential sellers or customers use business ownership data to investigate the financial records of a company and its owners.
• Fraud prevention: Preventing fraudulent activities, losses, and damage to brand image requires exhaustive evaluation of companies and owners. Fraud investigators use business ownership data to help assess fraud risk.
• Supplier Risk: Modern businesses optimize their supply chains by partnering with companies spanning the globe. This complex supply chain network requires trusted partners, operating across multiple jurisdictions. Supplier risk assessment is essential prior to signing any agreements. Business ownership data, combined with other B2B data, helps to identify supplier risks and improve risk management frameworks.