12/11/2007

Online Resources for Entrepreneurs

"The New York Times published a nice introductory article on how to get started with a small business. Author Barbara Whitaker notes that about ten percent of small businesses fail each year:

Success comes with education, careful planning and adequate cash flow, specialists say. And it has never been easier to lay the groundwork for starting a small business. Many tools are available on the Internet and at libraries to aid aspiring entrepreneurs. Whole magazines are devoted to the subject.
"Whitaker’s article lists a number of web-based resources for would-be small business owners, including:

The U.S. Small Business Administration web site
SCORE (the Service Corps of Retired Executives) offers business advice to entrepreneurs.

The Small Business Development Centers provide “management assistance to current and prospective small business owners”. For an example of the assistance available, visit the San Joaquin Delta College SBDC web site.

Work.com offers a variety of how-to guides for running a small busines.

e-Venturing bills itself as “the entrepreneur’s trusted guide to high growth.

For advice about entrepreneurship from others who have been there before, visit StartupNation.

Bplans.com features business plan software and free sample business plans, along with other expert advice.

CCH has an amazing variety of ready-to-use templates and documents, as well as links to official government forms.

The U.S. Library of Congress offers The Entrepreneur’s Reference Guide to Small Business Information."
For live links to these resources, see this Get Rich Slowly post from which the foregoing was quoted.