Handelman Business Opportunity Center
Starting
Your Own Business?
GENERAL WEB
SITES
AllBusiness
This site offers many free excellent tips and guidelines for all aspects
of small business
development and growth,
from actual business plans to
management and marketing ideas.
Bplans.com
Has free samples of business plans for selected business categories.
Entrepreneurial Edge
The Entrepreneurial Edge, funded by the Edward Lowe Foundation,
contains
articles and advice on major
aspects of starting, financing, marketing,
and managing a business.
Entreworld.org
“A World of Resources for Entrepreneurs,” this site links to useful
resources for entrepreneurs,
supported by the
Kauffman Center for
Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Entrepreneur’s
Resource Guide
Thinking about starting your own business? This resource will help your dream come to fruition.
Internal
Revenue Service
Provides information for
self-employed entrepreneurs, employers and small - large businesses, and
offers
a broad range of resources across federal and state agencies, as
well as industry/profession specific information.
The Entrepreneur’s Reference
Guide to Small Business Information
The 3rd edition of this essential resource, compiled by Robert
M. Jackson
The New
York State Small Business Development Center
Offers great advice on how to start a small business in New York State.
SBA
Small Business Classroom
The Small Business Administration (SBA) and Harvard Business School
Publishing offer guidelines on writing
a business plan with a sample plan
as well as ways of raising capital for your venture.
Small
Business Advancement National Center
A multi-faceted small business counseling and electronic resource
information center
SCORE
– Service Corporations of Retired Executives
SCORE, a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration,
offers e-mail counseling,
financing guides,
and business planning tips
free of charge.
SBA
Online Women’s Business Center
Promotes the growth of women-owned businesses through programs that
address business training and technical assistance, and provide access to
credit and capital, federal contracts, and international trade
opportunities.
Westchester County Association – Business Resources
Includes a list of links titled “N.Y. Loves Small Business.”
Fambiz.com
Claims to be the web’s leading resource for family business executives
and owners.
CCH
Business Owners Toolkit
Covers all the essential information on starting, planning, financing, and
marketing your small business.
State
University of New York at Buffalo – Small Business Information
Features many downloadable small business information brochures
Entrepreneur
magazine
Provides the full-text of its current issue with daily updates and
interesting tips on all aspects of starting,
running and expanding a small
business.
Inc.
magazine
Calls itself the “web site for growing companies,” and it offers
practical details for aiding a multitude
of small businesses.
Startup
Journal
Wall Street Journal publication for people who are starting a business
or franchise.
The
Small Business Journal
Offers tax and legal advice, indexed articles, discussion groups, business
plans, and more
ASSOCIATIONS
HOAA -
Home Office Association of America
A national organization dedicated to serving home-based and small business
professionals.
NBIA -
National Business Incubation Association
Website of the “world’s leading organization advancing business
incubation and entrepreneurship.”
NFIB -
The National Federation of Independent Business
The largest advocacy organization
representing small and independent businesses in Washington, D.C.
and all
50 state capitals.
The
National Small Business United
Keeps small business owners in touch with legislative & regulatory
issues that affect them and constructively
engages its members in
legislative & regulatory initiatives that affect the small business
community's livelihood.
Small
Business Technology Coalition
A non-partisan, non-profit industry association dedicated to promoting the
creation and growth
of research-intensive, technology-based U.S. emerging
businesses.
DIRECTORIES
AllBusiness
Provides critical tools,
services and information to help you start, manage and grow your business.
BizOffice
Includes small business and home-based business resources.
Business@Home
This is a free e-zine for home-based business owners.
MoreBusiness.com
Resource Center
Find recently published articles and useful tools, templates, and business
“how to’s” here.
Small
Business Advisor
Includes checklists, government resources, legal information and marketing
tactics
EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP &
FRANCHISE INFORMATION
FEDNet
– Foundation Enterprise Development
A non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the use of
entrepreneurial employee ownership as
a way to
build high performing
enterprises and improve corporate performance.
NCEO -
National Center for Employee Ownership
A private, nonprofit membership and research organization that serves as
the leading source of accurate,
unbiased information on employee stock
ownership plans (ESOPs), broadly granted employee stock options
and
related programs, and ownership culture.
BISON
– Business International Sales & Opportunity Network
Features a directory of 1,500 franchises, franchise news, business loan
information, and other resources.
Federal
Trade Commission
An FTC compiled list of franchise and business opportunities.
International
Franchise Association
A membership organization of franchisors, franchisees and suppliers,
founded in 1960, with a website
dedicated
to providing members and guests
with a one-stop shopping experience for franchise information.
MINORITY AND WOMEN OWNED
BUSINESS
Black
Enterprise
The virtual desktop for African Americans, sponsored by Black Enterprise
magazine
Digital
Women
Created for all women around the globe looking for a place to
gather free resources, business tips,
sales and
marketing tips, and home
business ideas.
Hispanic Business
The online version of Hispanic Business magazine.
NAWBO:
National Association of Women Business Owners
The only dues-based national organization representing the interests of
all women entrepreneurs
in all
types of businesses
SBA
Government Contracting and Business Development
Helps small, disadvantaged, and women-owned businesses build
their potential
to compete more successfully in our global economy, and
strives to be the premier source of information
and procurement assistance
for their customers.
SBA
Office of Women’s Business Ownership
Helps women start and build successful businesses with training, advice
and counseling anytime,
anywhere,
via the Internet.
E-COMMERCE LINKS
About.com
Internet guide to electronic commerce with feature articles, guides to web
sites, discussion forums,
newsletters, and chat rooms.
E-Commerce
Times
News, features, and special reports on e-commerce
Federal
Trade Commission - Consumer Protection
Consumer protection advice from the FTC on how to keep your Internet
transactions
safe, secure, and private
FUNDING SOURCES
The
Grantsmanship Center
Links to funding sources, plus helpful information on how to write
effective grant proposals
The
Foundation Center
Contains annotated grant making links and searchable by keyword.
A nonprofit association of grant-making foundations and corporations
Foundations
On-Line
A directory of charitable grant makers
The
Foundation Center – Finding Funders
Hot links for an extensive list of private foundations
U.S. GOVERNMENT RESOURCES
BizStats.com
This site calculates key business ratios for small businesses
Answers key questions concerning exports, OSHA regulations, postal
guidelines, federal jobs,
SBA advice,
Social Security issues and tax
specifics
The
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
Keyword searchable database of all federal funding programs, and keeps
track of federal grant
and loan
programs for entrepreneurs seeking funding
support
U.S.
Department of Commerce
Connects to various governmental agencies of assistance to small business
U.S.
Department of Labor – ELAWS Advisor
Elaws – that’s Employment Laws Assistance for Works
and Small Businesses – is designed
to help employees
and
employers understand their rights and responsibilities under the laws
and
regulations administered by the
Department of Labor.
SBA’s
Franchise Registry
Lists national franchises that have received expedited loan processing
when
applying for SBA financial assistance.
The
National Commission on Entrepreneurship
Established to provide local, state, and national leaders with a roadmap
of how to sustain and
expand a
flourishing entrepreneurial economy.
The
House Committee on Small Business
Established to assure that the government respects the worth of small
business, the people they employ,
and the principles of entrepreneurship.
See
what the Senate and the Members of the Committee are doing to promote and
protect
small
businesses in the United States.
The New Rochelle Public Library
1 Library Plaza
New Rochelle, NY 10801