Public Business Records

A significant portion of U.S companies are small businesses. Most of these businesses are sole proprietors, meaning their success depends on individual ownership. Therefore, it is crucial to run a business background check before signing any business deal with these companies.

Radaris is among the top people and business search sites that allow you to investigate a business entity before entering any agreement. Some of the details you can search on Radaris include public business records, small business employee background checks, business partners' background checks, business owners' public records, etc.

This allows you to know a company's track record, its address, its headquarters, and where it is located. Radaris gathers this information from public business records and specialized business databases to give you up-to-date and quality data. So what does a business background report include?

Information that Can be Included in a Business Background Report

Working with a small business or company can be both profitable and risky. Therefore, it is essential to run background reports on such companies or a business partner background check to avoid financial risks as stated above. Here are some of the details you can find in a business background report:

Business Background Information

Running a background check on a business gives you the company's history, including its owner, the industry it is involved in, the owner's phone number, location, address, business description, and more. The best part is that you can run a business background check free of charge on Radaris.

Comprehensive Financial Records

You can also request a business' comprehensive financial record on Radaris. This includes its collections, banking, trade history, and uniform Commercial Code filings (UCC). Typically, creditors use the UCC act to report assets being used as collateral to other creditors.

Credit Risk Scores and Detailed Risk Factors

Radaris also allows you to check for the creditworthiness of a potential business partner. This includes purchase history records and credit data. As a result, you can estimate risk factors associated with that company as well as its credit risk scores.

Past Business Registration

A past business registration search can help determine if a business's previous owner has been engaged in legitimate trade operations. This helps avoid any suspicious activities that can be problematic in the future.

Past Liens, Bankruptcies, Judgments

If you have any legal concerns regarding a business, you can look up this information on Radaris. It may help you avoid complications in the future.

In that case, Radaris allows you to run a background check on a private company to obtain legal records of any potential partner as well as get ownership information of public businesses.

Which Records are Accessible to the Public?

With many business opportunities presenting themselves every day, a background check is essential in ensuring you don't become a fraud victim. As such, Radaris features the following information to help anyone looking for a business owner profile or business owner background report:

  • Business report on the current and previous business owners;
  • Trade reports;
  • Outstanding loans;
  • Credit scores;
  • The business owner's name and address;
  • Legal filings;
  • Tax liens, judgments, and bankruptcies;
  • The past two years' inquiries;
  • Any delinquent tradelines;
  • Listing of current accounts.

How Do I Look Up Ownership of a Company?

You can look up ownership of companies and businesses in many ways. For instance, you can search the company in relation to the industry it is involved in, look up its name on websites like Radarus, search it on social media, or check the BBB (Better Business Bureau) records to see if the company is listed there.

When looking up the ownership of a company on Radaris, you must follow these steps:

  • Key in the name of the business you are running a background check on.
  • Enter the state in which the company is located.
  • Click the "Search" button to see the results. In this case, you can pay for a subscription to get a detailed report.

Background Check Tips

Ensure you gather as many details as possible before running a background check of any business on a search engine. For instance, knowing where a company is located can help you speed up your background search on Radaris. You can also try to find out the type of business the company is engaged in. This way, you can distinguish the company in question from other companies that may seem identical in terms of names, industries, or locations. Usually, Radaris requires you to run a company's name first before entering its location for quicker search results. This allows you to find the headquarters of that company, the type of business the company is involved in, its location, and more.

Business & Industry Profile Examples

There are different types of profiles for publicly and privately owned businesses. These profiles represent vital information about a particular company, including the company's history, its contributions to the community, its management, etc. That means if you want to know how a business functions, you can do so by looking at its profile. Here are a few examples of business and Industry profiles:

  • Annual reports profiles: These profiles are some of the major sources of information from companies. Usually, annual reports profiles come from companies themselves since publicly traded companies in the U.S. must submit annual reports to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Some of the information available on yearly reports includes the company's balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements.
  • Government profiles: These profiles are usually compiled from government databases, including federal tax income and state business applications. For instance, a company selling its shares in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission must register its information there. This allows search engines like Radaris to feature the company's information for easier access by the public.
  • Social profiles: With social responsibility profiles, you can see a company's achievements, including environmental sustainability, energy management, and equal rights at the workplace.
  • Commercial profiles: Besides government profiles, Radaris obtains publicly available data to create commercial profiles on businesses. The company has been operational for more than ten years and ensures it updates its database to give you the most accurate information possible.

How to Search State Government Records

Depending on your state, you can use the state's freedom of information law to access a significant portion of state government records. However, these laws vary from state to state.

With that in mind, let's look at some channels you can use to obtain state government records.

  • You can search the database of your state for registered businesses. You can do this by visiting your state's government website to see if the company in question is listed there.
  • Alternatively, you can contact the regulatory agency in charge of a particular industry to find information about a company. Usually, most states require various businesses to have special licenses in relation to their industry, including beauty, firearms, tobacco, and food licenses.

How can I Search City and County Records?

Besides searching state government records, you can also search records of specific cities and counties. In that case, you can call the local agency mandated with licensing businesses in your location.

Usually, there are agencies responsible for compiling information about companies at county and city government levels. This includes business occupancy agencies, license inspection agencies, and business permit agencies.

You can also visit the government’s information department and request these records. In that case, you can limit your search depending on your preference, including the date and the category of information you are looking for.

Difference Between Public & Privately Held Companies

In most cases, privately held companies are owned by the founder, a group of private investors, or the management. These companies do not trade or offer their shares to the general public. On the other hand, publicly held companies are corporations whose shares (stocks) are distributed to the general public. That means these businesses can tap the financial markets by selling bonds and stocks to raise money for expanding their services.