Resources
~Entrepreneur~
General
- US Small Business Administration (www.sbaonline.sba.gov) – Tips on financing, business start-up, SBA services and more.
- SCORE Counselors (www.score.org) – Get free business mentoring from SBA’s Service Corp. of Retired Executives. A chapter is located in most cities.US Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) – Information as well as rules and regulations.
- US Patent and Trademark Office (www.uspto.gov) – Information as well as rules and regulations.
- U.S. Business Advisor (www.business.gov) – Site sponsored by the SBA exists to provide businesses with one-stop access to Federal Government information, services and transactions. Has good business resource library and provides information about business development, financial assistance, taxes, laws & regulations, and international trade.
- Edgar Online (www.edgar-online.com) – Retrieve all government filings (10ks, 10qa and more) made by public companies and general SEC information.
- IRS (www.irs..gov) – Information and tax forms. Publication 583 – Starting a business and keeping records. IRS Code Section 162 – clarifies what can and cannot be deducted.
- Bankrate.com (www.bankrate.com) – Compare credit card deals.
Business Planning
Not everyone who starts and runs a business begins with a business plan, but it certainly helps to have one. If you are seeking funding you will most definitely need one that is well thought out and contains sound business reasoning. Even if you do not need funding a business plan will help you to think through and clarify all aspects of your business and test the viability of your idea.
A business plan should prove that your business will generate enough revenue to cover your expenses and make a satisfactory return. Below you will see the main sections of a business plan. What you want to show is a well thought out idea, clear and concise writing, a clear and logical structure that shows management’s ability to make the business successful and profitable
- Executive Summary–features the highlights of your plan and sells your idea in two pages or less.
- Company Summary–a factual description of your company, ownership, and history.
- Products (or Services or both)–describes your products and/or services and how they stand out from competitive products and services.
- Market Analysis-provides a summary of your typical customers, competitive landscape, market size, and expected market growth.
- Strategy and Implementation-describes how you will sell your product, how you will put your plan into action, and establishes milestones.
- Management Summary-provides background on the management team, their experiences, and key accomplishments.
- Financial Plan-contains key financials including sales, cash flow, and profits.
The business planning books below are excellent resources and they fully address your real life concerns in launching and succeeding in your own business. I highly recommend them as they are well organized, easy to understand and are packed with information. The sample plan for each section clearly illustrates how the information would translate into an actual business plan. ”The Successful Business Plan” covers all the sections in writing the plan with worksheets that take you through all the critical steps.
Click on the title cover for more information or to purchase.
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Looking at a blank computer screen as you prepare to start your business plan can be daunting. If this is what you are experiencing you may want to look at some alternatives that will make the process a bit easier. Business planning software such as Business Plan Pro can make this process easier and less painful by providing an outline while asking you the right questions that pull the most important underlying concepts within your business idea. I would highly recommend consider purchasing this software if writing a plan from scratch is not your cup of tea. It is probably one of the best business planning software packages available at a very reasonable cost.
Legal
Nolo Press Books are what I consider to be the best small business legal guides. They are practical and easy to understand with essential legal information.
Click on the title cover for more information or to purchase.
Form a Partnership thoroughly explains the legal and practical issues involved in forming a business partnership, creating a partnership agreement and protecting each person’s interests. This book covers partnerships compared to other business structures, the financial and tax liability of partners, contributions of cash, property and services, what happens if a partner wants out, how to value partnership assets, admitting new partners, buying a partner’s interest and much more.
Form Your Own Limited Liability Company provides you with the step-by-step instructions and forms you need to form an LLC in your state, without the expense of hiring a lawyer. This bestseller covers how to choose an LLC name, prepare and file articles of organization, decide on the best management structure, create an operating agreement and take care of ongoing legal and tax paperwork.
LLC or Corporation? will help you make the right choice with plain-English explanations of the basics of business entities, how each business entity protects you from personal liability, profits, losses and tax treatment, converting from one type of business entity to another and what to do if you conduct business out of state.
Legal Forms for Starting & Running a Small Business provides you with over 60 legal forms and documents and all the step-by-step instructions you need to use them. These essential legal and business documents helps you to create contracts to buy, sell, rent, or store goods, hire employees and consultants, protect your trade secrets, create non-compete agreements, prepare an LLC operating agreement, borrow and lend money, buy a business, lease commercial space, prepare corporate bylaws, record minutes of meetings and much more.
Consultant and Independent Contractor Agreements gives you the instructions and easy-to-use forms you need to keep within the law, stay out of trouble and get the job done. This easy-to-use book gives you all the tools you need to put your agreement in writing, define a project’s scope, components and duration , satisfy IRS requirements, get paid on time and in full, avoid disputes with clients, drum up new business. And if you are using freelancers, you need to know what it takes to avoid the ire of the IRS while protecting your business and intellectual property, which is included in the guide.
Legal Guide for Starting & Running a Small Business clearly explains the practical and legal information you need to: raise start-up money, choose between a sole proprietorship, partnership or LLC, get licenses and permits, buy or sell a business or franchise, negotiate a favorable lease, insure your business, hire independent contractors safely, understand small business tax rules, pick and protect a good name and enter into strong contracts.
User-friendly and loaded with tips, The Small Business Start-Up Kit (With CD-ROM) shows you how to launch a business quickly, easily and with confidence. It explains how to choose the best business structure, write an effective business plan, file the right forms in the right place, price, bid, and bill your projects, draft and use contracts, online and off, manage your finances, be prepared for, and file, required taxes and reach customers online. It includes forms and spreadsheets.
With this essential guide Patent, Copyright & Trademark you will get clear overviews of relevant laws, understand the different kinds of protection offered by patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets — and which apply to your work, get a plain-English definition of every term you’re likely to come across and find the information you need, quickly and easily.
Form your business structure online to save time & money. Most attorneys charge between $1200 – $1500. The two most popular sites are Nolo and Legal Zoom.
Nolo
Legal Zoom
Accounting/ Record Keeping
Funding
- Garage.com (www.garage.com) - Learn about venture capital and angel financing.
- Vfinance.com (www.vfinance.com) – A rich venture capital library with links to venture capitalists.
- VC Advice (www.vcadvice.org) – Forum that gives venture capital advice to the public.
Marketing