The best (free) business resources
Some things in life are free. Fortunately, anyone today can take advantage of plenty of free business resources and information, both on the Internet and off. The following list covers ten great free resources that can help your business. We also note where you can take advantage of premium resources at the sites for a small fee:
The Small Business Administration (www. sba.gov) is the granddaddy of help for your business needs. Established by the U.S. government in 1953, the SBA provides financial, technical, and management assistance to people who want to start, grow, and run businesses.
MarketingProfs (www.marketingprofs. com) is arguably the best marketing site on the Internet. Why? Because it isn’t an aggregator of everyone else’s marketing stuff; it generates new content from its network of marketing professors and professionals. Here you can find marketing articles, blogs, case studies, events, and online
seminars. Much of the information on the site is accessible with no fee, but you may want to consider signing up for premium membership (about $49 a year) to gain access to in-depth articles
and online seminars.
WSJ Entrepreneur (www.wsj.com/entrepreneur) provides a comprehensive set of online resources for businesses and the entrepreneur. You can discover and utilize great articles, business-plan tools, and maybe even your next business opportunity.
The Center for Business Planning (www.businessplans.org) provides free business-planning guidelines, which include articles and templates for such things as a cash-flow statement, mission statement, and financial ratios. You can also find checklists for segmenting your market and looking at pricing, as well as a strategic marketing plan.
Kauffman Foundation eVenturing (www.eventuring.org) is devoted to growing a business. We recommend that you check out the content under its Collections section, where you’ll find groupings of information on finance and accounting, people and HR, sales and marketing, products and services, operations, and the entrepreneur. In addition to the topics you can explore on the site and its blog, it sponsors a monthly e-newsletter that you
can sign up for.
Mind Tools (www.mindtools.com) helps consumers learn 100 essential life, career, and management skills — free! Of course, the
site also offers self-development courses and e-classes taught by experts — you’ll pay for these courses, but the tuition is reasonable.
SCORE (www.score.org), formerly known as the Service Corps of Retired Executives, bills itself as the “Counselors to America’s
Small Business.” More than 10,500 volunteers — coming from the ranks of retired business owners, executives, and corporate leaders — answer questions, give advice, and share their wisdom and experience. SCORE has an online, 24/7 counseling service, and it has set up many offices nationwide for walk-in help.
U.S. Export Assistance Centers are located in more than 100 cities around the United States. (You can find them through the U.S.Department of Commerce at www.doc.gov.) They provide assistance to businesses that want to export goods and services to foreign countries. If you’ve never done business with a foreign country, it can be a daunting task. The counselors at the assistance centers are trained to hold your hand through the
process.
