Small Business Internet Resource Guide
Entrepreneurial Tests
Entrepreneurial
Test
Take the test
and obtain immediate feedback!
Resource Guides
Entrepreneur's
Reference Guide to Small Business Information (Library of Congress)
Annotated
guide to print and electronic resources for entrepreneurs. A little
dated but some of the annual publications are useful.
MEL:
Small Business
The Michigan
Electronic Library offers a large collection of small business links.
Small
Business Information-A Mining Co. Guide
This is a
wonderful list of resources with extensive links to Internet small
business sites. Also check out a second Mining Co. Guide on Entrepreneurs
at http://entrepreneurs.mining.co.com/
Yahoo!
Small Business
Featured articles,
news stories and Internet sites on major small business topics.
Business
Plans
Bplans.com:
The Business Planning Resource Center
This award-winning
small business planning center is focused solely on the business
plan for small- and medium-sized businesses. It contains reports
and advice on putting together a business plan and includes sample
plans from actual businesses.
Fine
Art of Writing a Business Plan
Inc. has put
together a list of past articles from its archives to help you get
started in preparing a plan.
How
to Start a Business: Business Plan
This chapter
contains an excellent guide for business plans.
Build a Strong Business Plan
This useful
inc. magazine site contains articles and other tools to help you
with your plan as well as links to other useful sites and sources
online.
SBA
- Business Plans
Excellent
SBA business plan outline and workshop.
SBA's
Shareware Library - Files For Starting Your Business
This shareware
site within the SBA Online gives you lots of choices for developing
business plans. Take a few minutes to look at the templates, software,
and demos available for download.
StartupCreating
an Effective Business Plan
An online
business plan workshop from the American Express Small Business
Exchange.
Writing
a business plan
This site
contains a paper on the subject of preparing a business plan along
with a worksheet which can be used to help prepare an outline or
detailed plan for a new or an existing business.
Finance
ACE-Net
ACE-Net is
a program designed to improve the ability of entrepreneurs to network
with angel (accredited) investors nationwide. This Internet-based
network sponsored by the SBA's Office of Advocacy supports small
companies looking for investors and investors looking for promising
opportunities.
A special
area on CNN Financial Network's site geared toward small business
with news and feature stories.
Garage.com
Garage.com
aims to assist entrepreneurs in obtaining seed level financing by
providing mentoring and access to a network of investors. The site
also provides advice, access to research and reference materials,
and several forums designed to help entrepreneurs launch their businesses.
Entrepreneurs can apply for membership and, after being accepted,
register their startups. Investors can also apply for membership
and find startup opportunities that match their investment preferences.
Visitors can also subscribe to several mailing lists at the site.
RMA
Annual Statement Studies
Comprehensive
and up-to-date comparative data available by industry with explanations
of material available in the book. Good for use in preparing business
plans and financing proposals since banks use it. You can also order
individual industry reports online for a fee.
SBA:
Financing Your Business
A comprehensive
resource on SBA loan programs and forms, surety bond programs, size
standards, procurement assistance information and publications,
Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC's). Also contains a Finance
Workshop that would be useful for both business owners and small
business faculty.
Human
Resources
AHI's
Employment Law Resource Center
Provides tips
for dealing with difficult management dilemmas, a human resources
bulletin board, several free reports, and many booklets and manuals
(for a fee) on a variety of management topics.
ASTD
- American Society for Training and Development
A professional
association that focuses on raising standards for workplace training.
Check out the extensive list of links to related Internet resources.
BenefitsLink
- The National Employee Benefits Web Site
Extensive
library of links, documents, and columns about benefits plans.
Labor
Law Resources
Internet resources
for labor and employment law.
U.S.
Department of Labor - Employment Law Guide
Information
about the regulations and laws applicable to most employers.
Workforce
Online
Magazine for
the human resources industry.
International
Trade
Commercial
News USA Online
This U.S.
Department of Commerce Web site is designed to help importers around
the world find the American products or services they would like
to buy. Useful if you are interested in exporting your product or
service.
Export
Agent
This resource
is a good reference guide for anyone starting out in exporting.
It is available for downloading or printing at no charge - you will
need to provide your e-mail address.
International
Business Resources on the WWW
This site
provides links to numerous international resources on the Internet.
Maintained by Michigan State University Center for International
Business Education and Research (CIBER).
International
Trade Administration
US Department
of Commerce site provides access to other international trade-related
sites, including home pages for specific regions around the world.
International
Trade Web Resources
The Federation
of International Trade Associations has compiled a comprehensive
searchable database with more than 2000 links to international trade
resources on the Internet.
STAT-USA
- National Trade Data Bank
US Department
of Commerce site includes market research reports, country specific
commercial guides, and lists of distributors and agents. Available
on any of the computerss in the College of DuPage Library or on the
campus wide network.
Internet
Commerce
Electronic
Commerce
Northern Light,
an Internet search engine, has created this compilation of e-commerce
news, information, and resources with links to several online news
sources including Cent's Commerce Reports, Commerce Today, E-CommerceTimes,
and the weekly column on commerce from The New York Times (free
registration required). Also included is a comprehensive set of
links to government information and services, e-commerceorganizations,
technology sites, and online publications.
eMarketer
Statistics,
news, resources and community discussions dealing with Internet
marketing. A very comprehensive site.
eRetail.Net
Dedicated
to retailing on the Web. A very useful site for doing business online.
You might want to subscribe to their email newsletter as well.
GVU's
WWW Survey Results
The Graphic,
Visualization, & Usability Center (GVU) conducts WWW User Surveys
as a public service, and they are a great resource for businesses
who are interested in the demographics of the Internet.
Internet.com
A comprehensive
array of resources and links to sites about Internet-based commerce
with emphasis on Internet technology, marketing, web development
and ISP connections.
Nua
Internet Surveys
This is an
excellent resource for online statistics and trend analysis regarding
Internet commerce. It contains especially useful demographic information
about who uses the Internet.
Search
Engine Watch
Search Engine
Watch contains information on search engines for Webmasters, Web
marketers, and others involved with creating and promoting web sites.
Web
Marketing Today Info Center
The Web Marketing
Information Center has links to more than 500 on-line articles about
effective Web marketing and on-line resources for business. An excellent
site for both the novice Web marketer and the expert. Sections include
demographics, Net marketing theory, advertising, promotion, e-zines
and money transactions.
Yahoo
- Electronic Commerce
A wide variety
of links to Internet sites that focus on electronic commerce.
U.S.
Government Electronic Commerce Policy
Stay informed
about government policies, regulations and news regarding electronic
commerce.
Workz.com:
Small Business Resources and Utilities
A useful site
for internet commerce novices who are thinking about launching a
Web site.
Journals
and Magazines
American
Demographics
Browse current
and past issues of American Demographics for statistical and marketing
information on a wide variety of topics.
Biztalk
Small and
home business daily magazine aimed at entrepreneurs looking to start
or expand their own companies. Subscribe to the free e-mail newsletter
or join in the discussion forums.
Entrepreneur's Start-Ups
Visit this
online version of Entrepreneur Start-ups Magazine with features on specific
types of businesses.
Commerce
Business Daily (CBDNet)
CBDNet is
the Government's official free electronic version of the Commerce
Business Daily. The CBD lists notices of proposed government procurement
actions, contract awards, sales of governmnet property and other
procurement information. A new edition of CBD is issued every business
day with each edition containing approximately 500-1,000 notices.
CBDNet contains notices from December 2, 1996 forward.
Entrepreneur
Magazine Online
Read current
and past issues of Entrepreneur magazine.
Entrepreneur
International Magazine
This is the
online version of Entrepreneur International with trends and ideas
for international business opportunities.
Entrepreneurial
Edge Online
Read the Entrepreneurial
Edge Online with practical hands-on advice for entrepreneurs or
sign up for Entrepreneurial Edge Direct featuring industry-specific
information for small business owners.
Home
Office Magazine
Tips and advice
on home offices. Visit the HomeOffice Message Board to post questions
and obtain information from other homebased entrepreneurs.
Inc.
Magazine
Search the
current and past issues of Inc. Magazine for small business articles.
Publicity.com
An online
public relations magazine with tips, advice on how to avoid publicity
blunders, and links to many PR sites on the Internet.
Small
Business Journal
Read current
and past issues of the Small Business Journal.
Legal
ADLAW
Good practical
information on advertising law. Includes sample contracts for everything,
including a Checklist for Web Site Development, as well as information
on sweepstakes, games and promotions; and a guide to legal issues
in advertising.
FindLaw
A truly helpful
site when looking for legal information. The list of Web sites is
divided into broad categories such as Professional Development,
Cases and Codes, US Federal Resources, State Laws, News, and Consultants.
A search engine allows you to research specific laws and cases.
Includes many international listings as well.
Local,
State and Federal Resources
Bureau
of Labor Statistics
An excellent
source of statistical information on the economy, employment, compensation,
benefits, working conditions. Also includes regional information,
recent news releases and the Monthly Labor Review Online.
City
and State Information Links
Looking for
a city or state official? This important site, a service of NASCIO
representing chief state information officers, will link you with
state and city offices and agencies nationwide.
College
of DuPage Library Home Page
Access the
Library catalog and selected business databases.
DuPage
County Development Department
A useful source
of information with countywide population and employment figures,
labor force statistics, and transportation data. Also contains links
to local economic development agencies and municipalities.
House
of Representatives Small Business Committee
Committee
site lets you track small business legislation, provides a directory
of members, and a lists committee press releases.
Illinois
Department of Commerce & Community
Resources
for doing business in Illinois. Select "Doing Business" for useful
links to information regarding permits, licenses, certifications
and fees. Also listed are Small Business Development Centers throughout
the state. Information on state business financing programs are
included as well.
Illinois
Gateway: Department of Business Services
Select "Service
to Business" for small business services. Contains forms and fee
information for registering with the Secretary of State's Office.
Also contains a Corporate Name Database which allows you to do a
preliminary search on corporate name availability in Illinois.
International
Trade Administration
US Department
of Commerce site provides access to other international trade-related
sites, including home pages for specific regions around the world.
Oasis
Business Network | State Resources
PSI Research
and The Oasis Press, publisher of the SmartStart Your (any state)
Business series of books, provides a list of small business-oriented
resources - federal, state and associations.
SBA:
Small Business Administration
The prime
source for accurate, timely information for the entrepreneurial
community. The place to start all searches for information or help.
Senate
Committee on Small Business
The U.S. Senate
Small Business Committee's Homage lets you keep track of pending
legislation and provides a medium to let them know what is on your
mind. The site includes publications, roster information, legislation,
and hearing schedules.
Small
Business Regulatory Compliance Assistance
Service designed
to assist small businesses in complying with rules, regulations
and laws enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor.
Social
Security Online
The official
site of the Social Security Administration; everything you need
to know about Social Security, including how to calculate your earnings
and withholdings correctly.
U.S.
Business Advisor
This site
provides business with one-stop access to federal government information,
services, and transactions.
U.S.
Census Bureau
Get demographic
information that can help you market your business. Census reports
and many other surveys are available online.
U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
Information
about assistance, compliance, regulations and pollution prevention.
U.S.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EEOC has info
specifically addressed to small businesses. The aim of the Web page
is to provide small businesses with information about how to avoid
workplace discrimination disputes.
U.S.
Postal Service
Everything
you want to know about the post office. You can download business
forms, find zip codes, and get postage rates.
U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission
Small business
information from the SEC.
Marketing/Advertising/Sales
Ad
Resource
Web advertising
and promotion resources.
Advertising
World
Comprehensive
metasite with links to a wide variety of advertising resources on
the Web.
American
City Business Journals
Business news
and articles from business journals in 39 U.S. cities.
Bplans.com
-- Business Planning Tools
CyberAtlas
The Reference
Desk for Web Marketers, CyberAtlas contains market research on the
Internet from a variety of sources.
Internet
News Bureau
Online press
release distribution service with over 2000 media subscribers worldwide.
Specializes in Web-related material; targeted modules are also available
for other industries.
JustSell
JustSell is
an excellent site. If you want to talk selling; read about selling;
buy sales aids, instructions or tools from their sales store; or
submit your own selling article, this is the sales place to be.
Trade
Show Directories
These electronic
directories of trade show events are an excellent resource for researching
the best shows to market your products.
Web
Marketing Today Info Center
You'll find
links to thousands of on-line articles about effective Web marketing
and to on-line resources for business. Also subscribe to Web Marketing
Today, a free, monthly e-mail newsletter.
Professional
Associations
National
Association for the Self-Employed
The National
Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) provides the small business
owner with news, resources, legislative advocacy and membership
benefits such as health insurance.
NFIB:
National Federation of Independent Business
NFIB is an
advocacy group for small business owners. Their well designed site
keeps you up-to-date with the latest national and state-by-state
news for small business. They encourage your comments on current
events, politics and policy as it affects small business, and provide
addresses to reach your representatives. The site includes regularly
changing workshops on marketing, accounting and finance, management,
technology, and microbusiness.
Sites
of Interest to Educators
Center
for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship
Education
An ERIC adjunct
clearinghouse, CELCEE identifies curriculum guides, articles, and
reports that have been written on various aspects of entrepreneurship
education at all levels.
Core
Publications for Entrepreneurship
eWeb's Core
Publications in Entrepreneurship and Related Fields: A Guide To
Getting Published gives the definitive list of journals directly
involved in publishing research in entrepreneurship and related
fields. It also provides a rundown on proceedings and other publication
outlets.
SBA
- Business Plan Workshop
Business plan
outline and tutorial.
SBA
Finance Workshop
Useful for
understanding and presenting the following topics: SBA credit issues;
SBA loan programs available to a small business; SBA loan programs
available to a lender; eligibility criteria for a business loan;
and the application process.
SBA
Franchise Workshop
This workshop
contains an overview of franchising and the franchise contract with
useful self-paced activities and an entrepreneurial checklist for
prospective franchisees.
SBA
Marketing Workshop
Presents a
useful outline for presenting the purpose and elements of a marketing
plan.
The
Small Business Classroom
The SBA offers
short, self-paced learning modules on popular small business topics.
Current offerings include Y2K, the business plan (both in English
and Spanish) and how to raise capital for a small business. Additional
modules will be added in the future. Faculty may find the online
format and course contents of interest.
Starting
and Running A Small Business
American
Express Small Business Exchange
An excellent
site with useful online guides and resources on all aspects of small
business. Entrepreneurs can obtain personalized advice and advertise
their products or services for free.
BizProWeb
A very comprehensive
site with listings of business resources, articles, web sites, newsgroups,
shareware and discussion forums for small business owners, professionals,
and home office entrepreneurs. The links to Internet resources on
a wide variety of small business topics are especially valuable.
Business
Week Enterprise: The Small Business Resource
Created by
Business Week magazine, Business Week Enterprise is a new resource
center for small business owners. The News Center covers current
issues from the perspective of small business owners and an array
of columns provide advice, web site recommendations, and book excerpts.
Other resources include financial calculators, a glossary of terms,
and market research links.
CCH
Business Owner's Toolkit
Contains a
wide variety of useful worksheets, forms, plans, checklists and
sample policies in the following categories: finance, compensation
and benefits, employee management, firing and termination, marketing,
recruiting and hiring, business start-up, and worker safety.
Entrepreneurial
Parent
A work-family
resource for home-based entrepreneurs who are trying to run both
a business and a family from home.
FindLaw
Small Business Toolkit
An extremely
comprehensive site with essential information on starting and expanding
your business. Also includes very useful business tools such as
checklists, model business plans, forms and other business documents
that you can download and use.
How
to Start a Business
San Joaquin
Delta College and the Orange County Small Business Development Centers
have developed an entire book online. It has hypertext links to
related resources around the Web. You can go through the book by
chapter or subject, or you can go directly to the list of links
to other Web sites. Also includes a good bibliography.
Idea
Cafe: The Small Business Channel
A lively site
for entrepreneurs with small business profiles, how-to articles,
and a chance to interact with other small business owners.
Inc.
Online
This site
from the editors of Inc, Magazine is a comprehensive source of information
on business start-ups, finance, business technology, international
business, and the Internet. Faculty and trainers will find useful
outlines for course materials.
NAICS
-- North American Industry Classification System
North American
Industrial Classification System of 1997 now replaces the Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) of 1987. This is the Census Bureau
site that explains the new system and shows the comparison classification
numbers.
SBA:
Small Business Administration
This is the
premier site on the Internet for entrepreneurs with a wide variety
of SBA reports and publications on starting, financing and expanding
your business. The "Other Resources" section is also useful with
links to thousands of Internet sites on small business topics. Of
interest as well is the SBA classroom with online course offerings
on topics of interest to small business owners.
SCORE
- Service Corps Of Retired Executives
Maintained
by SCORE in partnership with the SBA, this site offers counseling
via e-mail, free financial management guides, guest articles and
more.
Small
Business Advisor
A comprehensive
source of articles, reports and links to Internet sites on small
business topics.
Small
Business Knowledge Base
This Web resource
offers useful links for entrepreneurs in several broad areas of
business.
Women's
Business Center
See site description
under Women Entrepreneurs. This is an excellent source of information
for both women and men with emphasis on business skills training.
Taxes
Small
Business Corner - IRS
The Small
Business Corner provides links to items on the Digital Daily which
are helpful to small businesses.
Small
Business Taxes & Management
Online version
of The Small Business Tax Review, providing news and analysis of
tax law changes, finance, and management.
STAWRS
- Simplified Tax and Wage Reporting System
This site
provides a gateway for linking employers to the sites of relevant
government agencies, enabling them to access information, forms,
regulations and publications for tax and wage reporting purposes.
Tax
and Accounting Sites Directory
A meta tax
site with links to federal tax law, state taxes, tax updates, discussion
forums, forms and articles.
Tax
Information For Business - IRS
This site
contains frequently requested business publications and forms, a
tax calendar for small business, and links to items helpful to small
business on the IRS Digital Daily online news publication.
TaxWeb
A comprehensive
resource center of tax information at the federal, state and local
levels.
Women
Entrepreneurs
BizWomen
A site for women
in business. Access the BusinessWoman's Internet Directory for online
resources or join the chatroom to talk with other women entrepreneurs.
SBA
Office of Women's Business Ownership
This site contains
useful links to special SBA services for women entrepreneurs in the
areas of training, counseling, financing and procurement.
Women's
Business Center
This is an outstanding
information resource on small business practices and techniques in
the areas of marketing, finance, management, technology and procurement.
Faculty and trainers would also find this site useful for planning
course syllabi in these areas. Both women and men should visit this
site!
Judy Wagner, Business
Librarian
College of DuPage Library
630-942-2021
wagnerj@cdnet.cod.edu
Revised: November, 2002.
