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15 essential entrepreneur resources
When you are starting a business, how do you get the right help, advice or tools that are needed to help you out?
This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
Well, plenty of resources are there online. In fact, there are so many that you might find it difficult in sorting them out and choosing which is the best one for you. That is where we cut through the clutter and help you out with the 15 most essential resources for the startup or small-business owners. These have been shared below briefly to give you an idea about them and how you can use them to increase the productivity in your business.
1. Small Business Administration
Here, you can find an abundance of information containing, resources, and links that can help you grow and start your business easily along with SBA-guaranteed loans.
For a much better introduction to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), it was founded in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government. It came into being so that it can protect, assist, counsel, and aid the interests of small business concerns, strengthen and maintain the overall economy of our nation and preserve free competitive enterprise as well.
Since a small business is always essential to building the future of the country, for the nation to be ready to compete in the Global market, and for the economic recovery and strength of the country, the team at SBA aims at assisting in almost everything possible. SBA not only helps SMEs build and grow, but also to network with various officers in different field around the nation.
2. Due
Due is a digital payment and an online invoicing platform that also delivers abundant information via the blog about the trends, issues, and even the solutions that are at the top of mind for every entrepreneur. These blogs are related to the security, operations, marketing, compliance and technology.
Along with the easier payments process online, as well as the merchant services and premium invoicing, you can also learn about many things to grow your business by availing their offers of guides, e-books and other content-based resources.
3. International Franchise Association
For those who are considering to purchase a franchise, you can comfortably start your research here. This website would help you with numerous resources, links, and information for finding the right one.
They aim to make it easier for you to choose the franchise and not regret the decision. The amount of information on this website would help you have a thorough research of the franchise model, the franchise industry, and the pros and cons of owning a franchise.
4. BizBuySell
If you are hunting for a place to buy the business, this site has got it for you. It has listings of properties that are all over the nation and can also help you find out about any business that is for sale. You can also get to know about any of the business brokers in your area for purchasing a business or even selling a business online.
5. Bplans
If you are stuck at a point where you are not able to plan a better thing for your business, the Bplans can help you out with the 500-plus free business plan templates. You would come across many useful articles and can also purchase the best-selling business plan software - the Business Plan Pro.
6. Inc Paradise
With this organization, incorporating a business or forming an LLC is made more accessible and more comfortable. Moreover, you would not have to do anything since this company would handle all the paperwork and the filing for you.
All you need to do is pay them and hire them to do it for you. From time to time they would ask you about the documents that they need, and you would have to send them the scan copies.
7. VentureBeat
This has been described by The New York Times to be one of the best blogs on the Internet. And it is best for those who want to stay up to date with every news, and information on the venture capital industry.
VentureBeat keeps those looking for the investment capital "in the know" on who received fundings from whom. Moreover, it also provides the latest on hot industries like green business, social networking, and mobile technology.
Each one of us knows that it is vital to give back to the society and the world, but it is quite hard to figure out where to offer and which is the best cause to donate to. With the help of Charity Navigator, you can figure this out within no time.
Charity Navigator is one of the nation's most substantial charity rating and evaluator. It does an excellent job of evaluating the financial health of over 5,500 national charities. Hence, letting you know about the places that you can donate without having to think twice.
If you have been in search of the best website from where you wanted to research about the market in the USA, your search has ended with this website. It has everything that you need to grow your market as your research with the U.S. Census and the other main demographic data.
And you do not need to worry so much, and it has a very easy-to-use form that would allow you to understand each point correctly without the need of a professional to explain it to you. The user-friendly interface and easy to understand content as well does a lot in letting anyone comprehend each point easily.
This is a common application that everyone is aware of, and why shouldn't it be. It is the best when it comes to fulfilling the needs of every and every small to huge businesses. Making this essential business suite a part of your daily office work would do wonders.
Also, integrating it with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 would make it much more significant and accessible for easy collaboration, file sharing, and remote data access. This would help increase the productivity in the company as the work becomes easier to complete faster.
11. IRS Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center
Instead of appointing a lawyer and spending more than ever, save your hard earned cash by opting to use this website. Here, you would be able to learn about the latest tax laws that are implemented and stay up to date with the news in the Taxes world.
With this, you would be able to stay on the right side of the latest tax new and the tax code without spending a penny and giving in too much efforts. You can also get all the official tax forms from this site easily.
12. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
If you are searching for a government website for the filing of the patent, trademark or copyright, this is the right one for you. The United States Patent and Trademark Office, also known as the USPTO is the federal agency that permits and grants the U.S. patents and registering trademarks.
Other than this, you can easily get an access to many legal answers and resources on this website. There are tools as well that can help you for the requirements that you have of the SME.
13. Capturengo
This is a great tool for those who are usually around meeting people and networking always. It is a wonderful tool where you would not have to keep typing all day noting down every person's details and contact or filling your pockets with visiting cards.
With this, you would not have to type, nor lose any critical data as it captures the business card and the receipts on your smartphone to store them in a cloud that can be accessed anytime in the future.
14. MarketingProfs
Marketing is critical in the business world and with the evolving technology, the digital marketing is taking up ample space on the business minds. If you are not aware of the primary requirements or anything about the marketing world, this website will help you with it.
Get excellent and detailed articles, resources and guides covering everything that has to be known about marketing. You can learn everything about how to create ad copies to the new or updates on the trade shows in the world that you would like to attend.
15. PRLog
Press Releases are used to make the public aware of the services that you offer in your business and is one of the leading aspects when it comes to online marketing. This website would let you know about the websites that allow you to post the press releases and that too for free.
So, happily distribute the PRs to some of the major search engines via this website. Moreover, this website also offers a lot of guides and tools that would help you write releases that get results. Isn't that wonderful? Begin to use this to grow your brand in the market.
As per your needs, choose the ones that would be helpful to you and your business to begin flowing the profits in more as the productivity increases in your business.