| All
right, you are an experienced and knowledgeable New Age retailer.
You can tell malachite from blue lace agate at a range of 50 yards.
You can identify over 100 different essential oils with your eyes
closed. You can explain feng shui to the
layman. But do you know how to go about getting an SBA loan,
calculate your gross profit margin or determine your most profitable
product line?
In my intimate experience with visionary retailers (I am married
to one.), they are knowledgeable of their services and products and
are kind, compassionate, hardworking, friendly people. They
also are a bit on the weak side in the practical aspects of owning,
operating and making a small business survive profitably. In
general, they are New Agers first and capitalists a distant second.
Fortunately there is a vast amount of free information as close
as your computer to help you make your business successful and
profitable. At last count there were well over a gazillion
web sites on the internet. Here are a few that provide real
help and information aimed at the small business owner.
Small Business Administration
www.sba.gov
The SBA is a true anomaly, a government department that actually
is there to try and help you. The SBA has been around for
decades, providing education, information and loan guarantees to
small business owners. Their web site is not flashy, but it does
contain mountains of information useful to the small business owner.
The SBA web site is a truly massive, well organized, source of
information, software and training, all of it free. It includes:
- Information on
starting a business, including a very practical small business
startup kit.
- Financing information, including
information on SBA guaranteed loans. In a SBA loan, your bank
actually is the one lending you the money. The SBA guarantees
payment of the loan, making it a more attractive risk to the
bank.
- Locations of local SBA business
assistance centers, located at hundreds of locations nationwide.
- The SBA classroom program, including
on-line courses in topics like raising capitol, business plans,
business development, financing and e-commerce.
- Over 2500 free shareware programs, in
Apple, DOS and Windows formats, covering everything from
accounting to web authoring.
- An on line library, bristling with all
kinds of how to do it information.
- Links to over 3500 small business
oriented sites.
SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives)
www.score.org
SCORE is a service organization composed of retired experts in
almost every aspect of business. These volunteers lend their
expertise to businesses that ask, providing vast pools of experience
and knowledge. An e-mail counseling program is available, you can
match your needs with the volunteer's expertise and select the
counselor from thousands of available choices. It includes:
- A free, confidential counseling
program available in person and by e-mail. Over 11,000 SCORE
volunteers, indexed by their expertise, are available.
- The SCORE workshop program, offering
both on-line and local workshops. Over 5900 local workshops are
offered annually for a minimal fee, offering one day courses in
subjects including business plans, taxes and financial
management techniques. ( I took a series of 12 of these courses
about 10 years ago and I'm still using a lot of what I picked up
there. Well worth the minimal time and cost.)
- SCORE also has an extensive on-line
collection of business articles.
Entrepreneur Magazine
www.entrepreneur.com
The Entrepreneur Magazines are an excellent and useful source of
information for the small business owner. So is their web site. It
includes a robust, useful collection of information including:
- Downloadable information, including
personnel and financial forms.
- On-line bartering.
- On-line incorporating.
- Expert advice. (Most with a charge per
minute.)
- More business information and articles
than you can shake a
stick at.
|
