Associations
& Nonprofits |
American
Management Association
The American Management Association provides information, seminars
and e-learning courses on business management topics. At the top
of the home page, AMA features an article or series focusing on a
current business issue or topic.
Association
for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE)
The mission of the Association for Small Business
& Entrepreneurship (USASBE) is to advance knowledge and foster
business development, entrepreneurship education and research.
Edward
Lowe Foundation
The Edward Lowe Foundation helps emerging growth businesses and
second-stage business owners.
eVenturing
eVenturing, run by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, delivers
useful information, guidance and contacts to entrepreneurs.
National
Association for the Self-Employed (NASE)
NASE is the nation’s leading Web resource for
self-employed and micro-businesses. This site provides a broad
range of benefits and support.
National
Business Association
The National Business Association keeps members up-to-date and
informed on important issues impacting the self-employed and small
business community.
National
Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)
NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group that represents
the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C. and
all 50 state capitals.
Public
Entity Risk Institute (PERI)
PERI is a nonprofit that offers risk-management resources
and training to small businesses. Look for their Risk
Management for Small Business publication and their Workplace
Safety Kit.
The
Retailer Owners Institute
The Retailer Owners Institute is dedicated to improving the
financial professionalism of independent retailers.
U.S.
Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center provides small
business news and practical business advice. This is the largest
national membership organization of chambers in the country.
U.S.
Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
National business membership organization for
Hispanic entrepreneurs with a variety of how to information,
national conferences and a membership spanning the nation.
Winning
Workplaces
Winning Workplaces is a nonprofit that provides small and
midsize employers with proven, practical and affordable people
practices, tools and articles to help entrepreneurs improve their
workplace practices.
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Biz
Planning & Managing |
AllBusiness
AllBusiness.com is a Web portal for small and growing
businesses, with how-to articles, forms, agreements,
questions-and-answers, solutions and services.
Bizben
Blog
This business selling and buying blog gives tips on how
to buy and sell a business and lists popular types of
opportunities.
BizMiner
BizMiner provides business planning and research services and
includes a section on free resources to help understand industry
trends.
BizPlanit
BizPlanit is a professional business plan
consulting firm. The site provides an extensive collection of free
business plan resources for entrepreneurs interested in preparing
business plans.
BizStats
Business statistics such as financial ratios and operating ratios,
turnover, profitability for sole proprietorships, employee
productivity, industry averages, benchmarking tools and more.
BizToolkit
The BizToolkit, offered by the JJ
Hill Reference Library, is a portal of tools and
resources including sample business plans, financial
calculators and expert live help for entrepreneurs and small
businesses.
BPlans
This business planning Web site provides samples
business plans and tips on writing effective business plans.
BusinessKnowHow
Business Know-How provides how-to articles, newsletters,
tips, tools and resources to help small business owners and
franchisees start, manage and grow their business profitably.
BUZGate
BUZGate helps individuals to start, grow and succeed in business
by connecting them to free and low-cost resources in areas such as
business planning, funding, marketing, technology and counseling.
CCH
Business Owner’s Toolkit & CCH
Financial Planning Toolkit
CCH provides a business owner toolkit to answer business, tax and
legal questions.
Center
for Business Planning
This site has a collection of resources for planning your
business, documenting your plan and evaluating your strategy.
Center
for Rural Entrepreneurship
The goal of the Center is to stimulate and support
private and public entrepreneurship development in communities
throughout rural America.
E-Myth
Embark Community Connection
E-Myth Worldwide’s inspirational online
Community provides practical and informative business
training and advice for business owners &
entrepreneurs around the globe. Connect with peers
to share best practices and lessons learned on
launching and growing a world-class business.
The
Idea Cafe
This site was created to help small business owners solve their
problems, while having fun too.
MergerPlace
MergerPlace.com connects business sellers with business buyers.
Microenterprise
Success
This site for microenterprises features microenterprise programs,
technical assistance and grant and loan information.
MyNewCompany
MyNewCompany.com provides small business start-up
information and resources.
My
Own Business
My Own Business provides an online, 11-session course
that teaches the basic do's and don’ts for entrepreneurs.
MyStrategicPlan
MyStrategicPlan.com helps entrepreneurs build and execute their
business strategies and provides free resources to help create
business and strategic plans, mission statements and more.
National
Dialogue on Entrepreneurship
National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship (NDE) helps improve
awareness of the value of entrepreneurship through informing and
engaging national, regional and local policymakers. NDE produces a
weekly newsletter that provides short summaries and analyses of
various trends driving the innovation economy.
PlanWare
Features business management software and templates related
to financial projection, cashflow forecasting, marketing,
strategic planning and more.
Small
Business Dictionary
The Small Business Dictionary gives definitions to 2,500 of the
most commonly used small business terms.
StartupGarden
This Web site features information on how to start a
business.
Startup
Venture Toolbox
This site provides a toolbox to entrepreneurs
with the tools and assistance necessary to help organized their
ventures from idea to IPO.
Sample
Business Plans
Strategy Business Plans offers business plan solutions
that result in funding and growth for businesses.
The
Veterans Corporation
The Veterans Corporation hosts a business portal for current and
prospective Veteran business owners and for companies working with
Veteran-owned businesses.
USABizMart
USABizMart lists thousands of business opportunities, franchises
and small businesses for sale throughout the United States. It
includes resources, articles, blog and weekly online webinars
through the Business for Sale Online Academy.
VendorSeek
VendorSeek.com connects business consumers with pre-qualified
vendors based upon the dynamics of the purchaser’s needs and the
specific nature of the services that the seller provides. This
process enables business consumers to locate the right vendor to
fill their needs and allows vendors to identify customers who are
seeking the very services they provide.
Welcome
Business USA
This site gives resources and information to help you start, run
and grow your small business.
Work.com
This site helps business owners solve management
problems with a wide variety of helpful guides on every aspect of
business maintenance.
Working
Solo
Working Solo helps individuals develop a sense of personal
discovery and achievement that comes from mastering
self-employment and related business practices.
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Finance |
Accounts
World Directory of Accounting Professionals
This database contains more than 35,000 tax and accounting
professionals from across the United States.
Angel
Investor News
Angel Investor News provides entrepreneurs and
investors with information about private investment,
technology trends and financing trends.
Axiom
Valuation Solutions
Axiom Valuation Solutions provides independent,
reliable information on what a business is worth. This
site offers as a free resource IRS business activity
search engine and valuation library for business owners.
BizBuyFinancing
BIZBUYFinancing offers tips,
articles, webinars and a blog on small business purchase
financing through SBA loans and commercial financing resources.
Corporate
Turnaround
Corporate Turnaround, formally Commercial
Credit Counseling (CCC), restructures debt in order to save
companies from bankruptcy.
Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
FINRA, through the consolidation of NASD and the New York Stock
Exchange, is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity
through effective and efficient regulation, complementary
compliance and technology-based services, which include market
regulation, policy enforcement and dispute resolution.
Inc.
Gauge
Business owners and non-profit administrators can quickly evaluate
their Key Performance Indicators and discover how they compare to
up to 80,000 other companies using this free, confidential
analysis tool.
Integra
Integra Information provides entrepreneurs with financial industry
data for more than 900 industries. This data allows managers to
benchmark with instant access to income statements, balance sheets
and ratios.
Intuit
QuickBooks and Innovative Merchant Solutions
Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and
financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses,
consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products
and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®
software, simplify small business management and payroll
processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing.
MyBizHomepage
MyBizHomepage provides free, easy-to-use financial analytics and
other information to help small and emerging businesses run more
smoothly and profitably.
National
Venture Capital Association
NVCA represents America’s venture capital community. This site
contains data on venture capital investments.
National
Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO)
NCEO is a private, nonprofit membership and research organization
that serves as the leading source of information on employee stock
ownership plans.
Peachtree
Peachtree offers resources for accounting solutions to the small
business marketplace.
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Franchising |
American
Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAFD)
The AAFD is a national nonprofit trade association
representing the rights and interests of franchisees and
independent dealers throughout the United States. AAFD’s Web
site lists accredited franchisors and has a section on buying a
franchise.
Bizquest
Bizquest's business-resale listings. The site lists
opportunities in 13 franchise industries.
The
Business Market
The Business Market has free information on hundreds of franchise
opportunities for sale. Use the powerful search tools to find the
ideal franchise for you.
Federal
Trade Commission (FTC)
The FTC has an online section on franchises and
business opportunities. The site features franchise and business
opportunity FAQs, business opportunity fraud alerts, federal and
state business opportunity rights and laws and information on the
FTC Franchise Rule.
Franchise
Gator
Franchise Gator, a franchise web resource, links
people with franchise opportunities through franchise and
business for sale listings and an eNewsletter with the
latest franchising news.
FranchiseHandbook.com
The Franchise Handbook is a quarterly publication offering
franchise opportunities.
Franchise
Solutions
FranchiseSolutions allows you to identify franchises
that best meet your criteria and then assists you through the
investigation and due diligence process.
FranchiseWorks.com
Search FranchiseWorks.com for free franchise information,
including a directory of hundreds of franchise opportunities,
business opportunities and home based businesses.
FranChoice
FranChoice calls itself the "franchise information
company" and helps entrepreneurs find the right franchising
opportunity based on their goals and preferences.
FranNet
FranNet's franchise consultants help with all phases of
franchising, from development to prospect acquisition.
International
Franchise Association (IFA)
IFA is a membership organization of franchisors, franchisees and
suppliers. IFA also offers a free course on Franchising
Basics.
Minority
Franchising
Minority Franchising lists companies most committed to
reaching out to and supporting minority franchisees.
PRG's
Franchise Resources
PRG's Web site lists franchising opportunities, resources and
news.
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Government |
Business.gov
The official resource to help businesses quickly find
compliance information, forms and contacts from multiple U.S.
government Web sites.
Department
of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security's Web site includes
information to small businesses about potential business
opportunities and keeping employees safe in the event of a terror
attack.
FedStats
This site lists statistics from more than 100 government agencies,
useful when conducting market research.
Fedmarket.com
Fedmarket.com is an online community for government buyers and
vendors. It is a top government contracting resource for public
and private organizations.
USA.gov
FirstGov is online collection of federal, local
and tribal governments, information, services and resources.
IRS
Small Business/Self-Employed Web Site
The IRS Web site offers a broad range of products,
services and resources to educate and assist small business owners
and self-employed professionals.
Office
of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment
Practices
A wealth of immigration-related employment discrimination
information can be found on this Web site.
Social
Security Online
This site allows employers to process their W-2s for their
employees. The process requires no special software.
The
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)
The online CFDA gives access to a database of all federal
assistance programs.
U.S.
Department of Commerce
Department of Commerce offers information on foreign markets and
international trade. Commerce also monitors and enforces
compliance with U.S. trade laws and agreements.
U.S. Department
of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
BLS is an agency for the Federal Government that produces labor
economic data and statistics.
U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office
This site contains everything you need to know about patents and
trademarks.
U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA)
The SBA provides financial, technical and management
assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their businesses.
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Human
Resources |
HealthInsuranceInfo.net
This site provides consumer guides for getting and keeping health
insurance in each state.
HRTools.com
HRTools.com is designed to bring relevant, practical
information to small business owners to help them deal with
day-to-day human resources responsibilities.
PAQ
Services, Inc.
PAQ offers a free dictionary of occupational titles that includes
information for more than 12,000 job descriptions.
Salary.com
Salary.com provides online compensation information
and data for most industries. The site also lists thousands of job
titles gathered via proprietary research and published reports.
See special section for small business.
Society
for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
SHRM provides practical, time-saving resources and tools on HR
topics. SHRM members can access sample forms, policies, mission
statements, job descriptions, RFPs and more than 30 HR toolkits.
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International
Trade |
EC21
EC21 is a business to business marketplace that
facilitates online trades between exporters and importers from all
around the world.
Global
Sources
Global Sources creates, manages and delivers
information that international trading partners need to meet and
do business. Global Sources Direct lets small- to medium-sized
companies buy retail products directly from China.
Tradeeasy
Tradeeasy is an international trade enabler,
which incorporates both on-line and off-line marketing solutions
to sellers.
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Legal
& Tax |
Accreditation
Council for Accountancy and Taxation (ACAT)
ACAT helps small businesses with accounting and tax issues.
The site maintains a listing of accredited accounting
professionals.
ActiveFilings
This site provides free, downloadable templates related to
documents relevant to corporations.
Business
Owner's Toolkit
Business Filings provides free information and financial
calculators for small business owners.
Law &
Policy Institutions Guide
The Law & Policy Institutions is a repository of legal
articles, law related resources and more.
Nolo
Nolo offers self-help legal information for small businesses.
Browse their free Small Business Law Center.
Payroll-Taxes.com
Payroll-Taxes.com is a useful site for conducting
payroll research. Users can search the payroll database to
find information on both state and federal forms, rates,
publications, unemployment rates, labor laws, local taxes and
important dates to know for filing forms.
Small
Business Lawyers
Read small business legal news & legal topics.
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Media
& Magazines |
Bizjournals
Bizjournals is an online local news resource for small
business owners. The site contains information from 55 local
business journals.
Business
Opportunities Weblog
The Business Opportunities Weblog is a moderated list of
legitimate of business opportunities for entrepreneurs.
BusinessWeek
Online
BusinessWeek's how-to articles, interactive tools and Small Biz
Resource Center give entrepreneurs information on how to start and
grow a business.
Easi
Media
Easi Media's iEdition software contains profiles on
businesses and franchise opportunities, products, services and
resources. iEdition provides a fast way to find and
research a wide range of industries, business topics and
information.
Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur.com is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs to start
and grow successful companies.
FastCompany
FastCompany is a magazine about innovative people
and ideas. Look for the Fast Companies Database, a helpful
resource to find articles, information and ways to connect with
other companies.
Inc.com
Use Inc. to discover strategies for starting,
growing and running your business. They also offer resources
on business-management issues and free How-To
Guides on a variety of business matters.
Prairie
Business
Prairie Business is a monthly business magazine for rural
entrepreneurs.
SBTV.com
SBTV, Small Business Television Network, provides technical
information on how to run your business, success stories from
entrepreneurs across the country, information about small business
conferences and associations and other resources.
SmallBizResource.com
SmallBizResource.com is an online paper with a
mission to be the go-to repository of easy-to-find, no-nonsense
advice for small businesses.
The
Small Business Advocate
The Small Business Advocate is a nationally syndicated weekday
radio/Internet talk show.
Smart
Business Ideas
Smart Business Ideas™ magazine articles go right to
the heart of business issues by highlighting what’s essential to
business executives. Their website has an article archive,
searchable B2B Directory, and well organized links focused on the
needs of small business.
Soundview
Executive Book Summaries
Soundview Executive Book Summaries pioneered the concept of
outlining the key points and ideas of full-length business books
into quick and easy-to-read print summaries.
StartupJournal.com
The Wall Street Journal Center for Entrepreneurs
features articles on business planning and small business
management. This site includes a list of franchises.
TradePub.com
On this site, order free subscriptions to leading trade magazines.
Tulenko
Group
Paul Tulenko is a syndicated columnist for Scripps-Howard. His
Web site is dedicated to helping business owners & future
business owners attain the success they desire.
Womensbiz.us
Womensbiz.us is a free online magazine for women in all
types and stages of business.
Your
Business
MSNBC's online version of the television news magazine, which
focuses exclusively on America's small business entrepreneurs. The
program offers news, information, advice and guidance for people
who own businesses. MSNBC's "Your Business" is a weekly
half-hour television program that airs Sundays at 7:30 a.m. EST.
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Sales
& Marketing |
Business.com
Business.com is a business-focused search engine and directory.
Colloquy
This Web site features information on the
frequency-marketing industry. Registration is free and provides
access to articles and book reviews on frequency and loyalty
programs.
How-To
Network
How-To Network has a comprehensive library of
small business how-to articles and guides.
Internet
Marketing Tutorial
Verizon SuperPages and SCORE bring you a free
Internet Marketing Tutorial.
Just
Sell
This site is dedicated to helping business owners and
entrepreneurs sell better. Find industry-specific sales news,
how-to articles, sales ideas and discussions.
KnowThis.com
KnowThis.com is an advertising and marketing virtual library
that offers resource materials and useful links.
Local
Marketing Guide
Learn how to do internet marketing for your business.
Local Marketing Guide also provides a forum where you can receive
personalized advice.
Marketing
Experiments.com
Marketing Experiments.com performs large-scale online marketing
experiments and publishes results in its free biweekly
e-newsletter. Researchers test Internet marketing methods and
offer data on Web site marketing techniques that work and don't
work.
MarketingforSuccess
Marketing coach Charlie Cook helps small businesses
attract clients. His Web site offers a free marketing guide.
NetPost
Mailing Online
With the U.S. Postal Service's NetPost Mailing Online, all you
need is a document, a list of addresses and an Internet connection
to send direct mail. NetPost does the rest—printing, addressing,
collating, folding, stuffing and sorting.
NewspaperAdvertising.com
Learn to advertise effectively in newpapers and magazines. Free,
practical articles, resources and message boards.
PR
Newswire's PR Toolkit
PR Newswire provides a PR Toolkit with everything
necessary for getting the word out about your products and
services.
SellingSelling.com
SellingSelling.com provides free articles to
advise small businesses on selling strategies and tactics.
Trade-Show-Advisor.com
Trade-Show-Advisor.com offers free information and
encouragement for people whose businesses might gain exposure and
attention from participation in trade shows.
VendorSeek.com
VendorSeek.com connects business consumers with
pre-qualified vendors based upon the dynamics of the purchaser’s
needs and the specific nature of the services that the seller
provides. This process enables business consumers to locate the
right vendor to fill their needs and allows vendors to identify
customers who are seeking the very services they provide.
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Technology
& Internet |
BBB
Online
BBBonline is a subsidiary of the Council of Better
Business Bureaus. Their mission is to promote trust and confidence
on the Internet. This site helps business owners with Web sites to
establish an online privacy policy program.
HP
Business Learning Center
Instructor-led courses from Hewlett-Packard, including
Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, data security/protection, Adobe
Photoshop and much more.
Internet
Learning Tutor
A free online interactive training series for Web users who want
to improve their Internet skills. Brought to you by SCORE and Verizon
Superpages.com.
Joshua
Feinberg’s Small Biz Tech Talk
Get one free hour of computer consultants business
training. The site also provides free articles on computer
training issues.
LiveOffice
Corporation
LiveOffice provides on-demand, free conference
calling with no advance notice or scheduling required. Service
provides a 250 person conference capacity and 6 hour duration.
Long distance rates apply.
Microsoft
Office Tools on the Web
Microsoft's small business Web site offers "tools of the
Web," including SCORE business plan templates, downloads,
support articles and clip art.
Open
Office
Open Office offers free, open-source, MS Office-compatible
software that runs on a variety of platforms.
Tech-Net
Produced by the U.S. Small Business Administration, this site
contains tech information and resources for and about small
businesses.
Workz.com
Articles at workz.com help small businesses with building their
Web sites and attracting customers online.
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U.S.
Small Business Administration (SBA) |
Advocacy
The Office of Advocacy conducts economic research,
policy analyses and small business outreach help to identify
issues of concern.
Business
& Community Initiatives
The Office of Business and Community Initiatives administers
programs and activities designed to provide information, education
and training to prospective and existing small business owners.
Disaster
Assistance
SBA's disaster assistance program helps entrepreneurs develop
security strategies and offers loan assistance
to businesses impacted by a disaster.
Entrepreneurial
Development
SBA's Office of Entrepreneurial Development helps
small businesses start, grow and be competitive by providing
training, counseling and other forms of management and technical
assistance.
Government
Contracting & Business Development
The Government Contracting & Business Development
Office is charged with making sure that small businesses get
a fair share of the approximately $46 billion annual federal
procurement market.
HUBZone
The HUBZone program stimulates economic development and creates
jobs in urban and rural communities by providing federal
contracting preferences to small businesses.
International
Trade
Export information and development assistance to help
small businesses take advantage of export markets.
Loan
Programs
The SBA offers numerous loan programs to assist small
businesses.
National
Small Business Week
National Small Business Week is an annual event that recognizes
the important role of America’s business community. Visit the
Web site to find out more.
Publications
The SBA has more than 200 free e-books and publications
online.
Small
Business Development Centers (SBDC)
SBDCs assist individuals and small businesses by
providing a wide variety of information and guidance through 58
branch locations.
Small
Business Training Network
The Small Business Training Network is a virtual campus housing
free training courses, workshops and knowledge resources designed
to assist entrepreneurs and other students of enterprise.
Technology
(SBIR/STTR)
SBIR is a highly competitive program that encourages small
business to explore their technological potential and provides the
incentive to profit from its commercialization.
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