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Michael Jenkins authored the "Starting
and Operating a Business" series that is sold through our bookstore.
Through this site he also offers books and software for business
startup, financial, tax, and legal management. Software can be
downloaded directly from the site. Take advantage of this author's
generous offers of very worth-while free material! Website: www.roninsoft.com Robert Sullivan, author and public speaker, brings a gold mine of
information to the Internet in this site. Free articles, checklists,
FAQs, tax advice, government business, and much more address a wide
variety of the questions posed by small business owners. There's even
book reviews and a well-done discourse on the Y2K problem. Check it out.
Website:
www.isquare.com/ From
the first seeds of an idea to operating online, this site gives practical
guidance for doing business via the WWW. It avoids hype
and stresses that there are lines of business not suited to this medium.
But for those that are, this site has down-to-earth, factual articles on
structure, promotion, methods of payment, server services, and more. Website:
www.actium1.com/
Small Business 2000 is a half-hour, weekly program on public television
stations. Using a documentary format, each segment focuses on a
different entrepreneur. The producers are Hattie Bryant, a business
trainer and author, and Bruce Camber, a business researcher and the
site's Webmaster. This
site offers hyperlinked descriptions of the television segments along
with profiles of the business owners, but there's more: business advice,
philosophy, and links to other helpful Web resources, schedules of
broadcasts, how to purchase video copies of the programs, and the
opportunity to correspond with the program producers are available. Website:
www.sb2000.com
This
Canadian publication
has much to offer in the way of small business wisdom and information.
The well-designed site makes it easy to read articles from current and
past issues, but it offers more: a newsletter, a guide to small business
resources, and the "Profit 100," — a list of companies
designated by the magazine as being Canada's fastest- growing. You can
also take an online National Entrepreneurship Test, which purports to
measure your ability to think and act in an entrepreneurial fashion. Website:
www.profitguide.com/main.asp This
is a nicely arranged collection of Internet
resources for small business. Each resource is logically
categorized and described in detail. There's much more than links to
other Web sites. A sizeable directory of business shareware and another
of Usenet newsgroups are particularly useful. A small library of
well-written essays and articles on a variety of business-related topics
round out this site. Website:
www.bizproweb.com http://bizserve.com/sbdc/
http://bizserve.com/sbdc/ Located
throughout Michigan, small business development centers assist people
with the development of a business plan, market planning, site
selection, financial projections, and licensing requirements. A lot of
their helpful information is available online for the
"do-it-yourselfer" or if you don't have time for an in-person
visit to an SBDC. But if you need the services of a professional
business counselor, you can check their list to find the office nearest
you. Info about training, research, and publications can be found here.
A list of links to other good sites of business information is helpful;
especially note an international subset with over 100 links, several of
them for Canadian sites, Michigan's close international neighbor. www:
bizserve.com/sbdc/ SBA
Online The
Small Business Administration
was established to ensure a thriving small business community. While the
SBA has many critics, most have to agree that the SBA Online has been a
success. Initially, it was just a bulletin board system offered free of
charge via a toll-free phone line. With the advent of Fedworld, SBA
Online has also been incorporated into the federal megasystem and is now
available in multiple ways: BBS, Gopher, Telnet and WWW. The
strength of SBA Online lies in its provision of a limited number of text
files (primarily traditional SBA handouts) that instruct small business
owners/operators in the basic functions and practices necessary to run a
profitable business. SBA Online includes oodles of shareware and
downloadable files, as well as descriptions and eligibility criteria for
SBA management, technical, and financial assistance programs. (See the
extensive library of shareware at<HTTP: indexshareware.html starting
www.sba.gov http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexshareware.html.) In
instances where bibliographies and contact directories are supplied in
the documents, it is best to ignore these resource lists or view them
with a wary eye. The
SBA's new Website is divided into sections on starting, financing, and
expanding your business. "Starting Your Business" helps you
locate the nearest Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) Office,
Small Business Development Center, and Small Business Institute.
"Financing Your Business" offers descriptions of specialized
financing which include loan guarantees (for international trade, export
revolving lines of credit, small general contractors, seasonal lines of
credit, energy, handicapped assistance, pollution, and disabled and
Vietnam veterans) and background information on small business
investment companies (SBIC) and certified development company (CDC)
loans. Expanded access to surety bonds is also explained. Of special
interest is the gopher list located at the URL http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/gopher/Local-Information/Small-Business-Investment-Companies/
where a list of small business investment companies can be found, state
by state. "Expanding
Your Business" describes the Procurement Automated Source System
(PASS), which routes the profiles of qualified small businesses to the
desks of thousands of government procurement officers and large prime
contractors throughout the U.S., and the Small Business Innovation
Research (SBIR) program, which provides an opportunity to qualified
small businesses to propose innovative ideas to solve specific Federal
R&D needs. 1-900
number-access offers additional e-mail and conferencing services not
available through the Telnet, Gopher, or the toll-free phone number. The
dial-up and Telnet versions require users to register online by
supplying their real name and selecting a password. Website:
WWW.SBAONLINE.SBA.GOV SCORE
-- Service Corps of Retired Executives Over
12,000 volunteers sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration
provide free, confidential, one-on-one counseling to small-business
owners and those interested in starting businesses. SCORE members are
retired or working executives with in-depth expertise in a wide spectrum
of businesses nationwide. SCORE counsels over 350,000 small-business
persons each year, operating in approximately 400 locations across the
United States. SCORE's
prototype Webpage has now become a full-fledged Web-based service where
you can locate the SCORE office nearest you by choosing the information
for your state. One outstanding feature is a list of individual
counselors searchable by their areas of expertise, found under the title
"Get Email Counseling." This will be especially useful when
you need to talk to an expert in a specific subject area (currently well
over 800 unique skills in the list). Website:
www.score.org Is Now the Right Time? Overall,
specialists who study small business start-ups have found that the most
important characteristics for Success include: Knowledge
in the field through both formal training and on-the-job experience. Attitude
or willingness to work long hours for many months and sometimes years,
without expecting much income. A
business plan - a business without a plan is a ship without a rudder. Capital,
cash, resources. Action
- implementation - get-it-done. If
you are to the point where you feel comfortable with those five areas,
there is a very high probability that you will succeed should you decide
to start your own business. However, if you feel weak in one or more of
these areas, you may want to ask yourself if "now" is the
right time. Being
self-employed usually requires more knowledge, time, planning,
resources, and energy than working for someone else. Make sure that you
are willing and able to commit to whatever it takes to make your venture
a Success. This may mean taking into consideration any other goals that
you may have, as well as current and future responsibilities. As a
general rule, estimate the amount of time you think you'll spend on your
business and double it. Believe it or not, this is one of the best ways
to determine the time commitment that you will be making to run your new
business. Obviously,
some types of businesses are more flexible in terms of time commitment
than others. You might want to adjust your business goals to meet your
lifestyle goals. How hard do you want to work? Do you want to hustle
sales every day? If you are determined that your weekends are free, you
should eliminate retail sales, real estate, and many service businesses
from your list of possibilities. But you shouldn't get discouraged.
There are businesses to match every lifestyle and you have to find one
that is right for you. Be
sure to involve your family in the decision process. Their support is
critical. They will help you narrow your search and they can also be
your supporters as you climb the mountain. (American
Women's Economic Development Corporation, Stamford, CT, 4/97) What Stage Is My Business In?
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