Small Business Information Center

by Adorna Mathew

Starting up a small business is really a testing time for any entrepreneur; one has to undergo a lot of stress full with so much to do in so less a time. The initial phase before starting up a business is also characterized by toiling under pressure to find out what is right and what is wrong.
The major issue of concern before starting up any small business is the availability of right resources. Do you have the right kind of guidance? Do you have enough small business information? What is the source of your information?
Internet is one of the best resources for searching for small business information. You can also get some practical information on ‘how to start your home business’ and can also search for some small business opportunities that suit your taste and budget.
However, the best thing would be to visit a small business information center. You can also find out about the addresses of some government based small business information centers and administrations.
There are many local Business Information Centers which provide the small business owners and the prospective entrepreneurs with important information. The small business centers also provide contacts for state regulatory requirements for people wanting to start up small businesses.
The primary objective of any small business information center is to facilitate sustainable small business development. You also find information about licenses and permits you need to obtain and maintain in order to run your business smoothly.
Small business information you need before starting up a business:

• Information for obtaining the necessary licenses and permits

• Availability of different financing options for your short term or long term goals

• Information on some copyright and trademark issues.

• Information on how you can get some guidance from external sources.


Some of the organizations that can help you to set up small businesses are the following:


Small Business Administration (SBA)

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business owners. The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Through an extensive network of field offices and partnerships with public and private organizations, SBA delivers its services to people throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U. S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

There are many SBA programs and services which support your small business. You can also get SBA-backed loans and find government contracting opportunities. SBA also provides disaster assistance and training programs to help your business succeed.

There are around 25 million strong small businesses providing strength to America’s economy. Despite their immense contribution to the economy, small businesses are heavily burdened by the costs of government regulation and excessive paperwork.

Office of Advocacy within the U.S Small Business Administration helps to reduce the burdens that federal policies impose on small firms and maximize the benefits small businesses receive from the government. It encourages policies that support the development and growth of American small business.

sba.gov/services/index

Small Business Development Centers

The Offices of Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) provide variety of services to prospective and existing small business owners. You can get one-stop assistance, guidance and information at its easily accessible branch locations. As a cooperative effort of the private sector, the educational community and federal, state and local governments the main aim of this center to strengthen the network of training and counseling services.


Women’s Business Center
Women's Business Centers (WBCs) represent a national network of more than 100 educational resource centersdesigned to assist women start and grow small businesses. WBCs operate with the mission to level the playing fieldfor women entrepreneurs, who still face unique obstacles in the world of business.

Online Women’s Business Center

The Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO) assists women in setting up small businesses. The assistance is provided irrespective of their social or financial disadvantage, race, ethnicity or business background. OWBO and the Online Women's Business Center are integral components of Entrepreneurial Development's network of training and counseling services.

sba.gov/services/lawsandregulations/advocacy/index

Whenever you decide to setup a small business visit the sites described above to get hold of some authentic information. You can also find addresses of some local business information and development centers where you can go and discuss various issues related to your business.

Small Business Services
by Yuri Jagrine

Not selling small business services – poor oversight. Small business is BIG business! Who hasn’t heard that statement? But have you really thought about the concept? It’s been around and it’s been used over and over and even if it does sound contradicting, it is the truth. You know this - not only does each of the small businesses provide their services, but they require just as many. Individually each one of them is probably not a company’s largest buyer, but collectively those businesses are a powerful force.

There are 550,000 new businesses started each MONTH in the US! Granted, a lot of them will fail, but hold on – for each one of those businesses to get going, they need to write a business plan, incorporate, create a logo, create a website, open a line of credit, open up an office/retail space, equip that space, hire employees, pay them… the list of tasks is long and the dollar amount behind it is large. Take all those needs and multiply them through the number of startups and you see a multi-billion dollar effect. No wonder the government makes special effort to promote small business loan access, create tax breaks, allows for a favorable playing field to compete with the industry leaders.

Trying to Understand the Market

The newest trend by the large corporations is trying to accommodate these small businesses by providing products customized for them and trying to understand their needs (which credit card company doesn’t offer a Small Business card?). Well the corporations may be trying to understand the small established business, but they are still overlooking the startups. There is the stereotypical reason to overlook these cash-strapped startups – that they don’t have money to spend. Well, the reality is they may be bootstrapping and cash may be very delicately calculated, but the entrepreneurs who are running those startups know that they have to spend money and know how to spend that money and they DO spend money.

The Mindset

Who gets it - other small businesses get it! So what needs to be understood about these entrepreneurs? The first thing that must be known is that just like any group of people can’t be defined by just one description. There are very savvy individuals who start companies, there are simpler-minded ones; there are ones with reserves, and ones without; there are patient, hardworking ones and impatient and lucky ones. That’s the first part, the second is that they are just like most well-informed consumers today, only they expect even more for even less. The lowest dollar, no matter how appealing, is not the answer if it does not provide a solution, so spending an appropriate amount of money is not out of the options.

Some of the entrepreneurs know that they need a website, but they don’t have $7,000 to spend on one; others know that they need a business plan to secure funding and ARE willing to spend $2,000 – understanding the need that they have and the way they intend to alleviate their pain is the way to sell your service. They may shop around a lot longer, and come off as wasting too much of the vendor’s time, since finding that deal is so crucial to keeping costs down; they may barter, they may balk entirely – but do know that if they engage you in a price quote and open a dialogue, they are not there to waste either your or their time for that matter – they are there to buy.

The Takeaway

It’s all about being patient, it’s all about communicating needs and solutions and it’s all about making money!

Small Business Planning
by Yuri Jagrine

Small business planning – no excuses, you need to write it down! Before you condemn me and say “he’s dead wrong”, let me share what I have seen. There are two schools of though about starting a business – one is “Jump In” and the other is “What If”. Both sides have strong reasons to uphold their opinions but in the end they want the same thing - success - they just take different paths to get there.

Two Schools of Thought

The “Jump In” crowd say that one of the simplest things that prevents getting started is ‘paralysis by analysis’. This concept is that you can dwell over your idea and the details behind it for such a long time that by the time you tell yourself you’re ready, you’re actually too late because the market has changed, and you have spent so much time and money trying to get to that point. The idea to prevent this paralysis is to just do it – just start the business, start acquiring customers, start delivering your product or service, deal with the problems and you will learn the your business by doing.

The entrepreneurs whom I’ve dubbed the “What If” are the people who understand that mistakes are costly. Some mistakes are burdensome when you’re bootstrapping the entire operation, others can be so detrimental to the business that they could break it. To prevent these errors, these people want to know what they are getting into and they take the time to look at the market, to look at the future customers, make sure that the basic financial equation [ Revenue (-) Costs = Hey, I can make money off of this(!) ] still holds.

Why You Need One

So you have an awesome idea, right? Great, now all you have to do is go out and do it! Well, that’s the same thing as being 14 and saying that you have an awesome idea to start driving and you’re going to do it. You can get behind the wheel of the car, you can get the engine running, you know about the gas pedal – I mean you’ve seen everyone else do it, so you pull out on the street and 2 minutes later you’re looking at a wrecked car. Sure, you’re still alive and the car cost $10k, but don’t you think you should at least ask about the rules of the road?

Here is why I say you NEED a business plan. No matter how well you think you know what you’re doing, you just haven’t thought it all the way through. A business plan does not have to be elaborate, does not have to be a 40 page color document, it doesn’t even have to be a quick 10 pager, I’m saying that if you can “write” it in your head then even that is great. A business plan is taking the time to ask yourself the basic questions about your new operation and coming up with the answers. The answers make up the plan:
1. Executive Summary – what is the nature of your business
2. Product/Service Description – what are you selling
3. Market Analysis – who is buying
4. Management Team – who is helping you
5. Operations Strategy – how will you deliver
6. Financial Plan and Projections – how much money can you make

Different Types

So, why is there so much talk about putting a business plan together and one being better than another? Well a business plan not only allows you to gather your thoughts about your new business, it also serves as a resume to partners and investors. Different levels of investors require different levels of analysis and insight. A financial institution such as a bank may want to see some specifics about sound financial operations; do you know what they want to see? Looking at thousands of business plans is the job of Angel Investors and Venture Capitalist and they may want to know the precise assessment of your customer base; do you know how to calculate it?

There are several ways you can put a plan together and each type of solution comes with its own price tag and those range from free to $10,000. You can look online and see a similar six-part summary that I wrote above (free), you can buy software that walks you through the different parts (about $400), or you can hire an expert or a consultant to write the plan for you..

It costs How Much?

Here is what you should know about the typical three types of business plans that a business plan professional can create charging per page or per hour. A Level 1 Business plan is about 10 pages, costs between $700 and $1,500 and is used to secure a bank loan. A Level 2 plan is from 20 to 30 pages, costs from $2,500 to $5,000 and is intended to capture an angel investor for an investment of up to $1M. The third level of business plan is intended to secure venture capital in the multi-million dollar range and can be from $7,000 to $10,000. If you think that $10,000 is a lot, you’re correct, but keep in mind that some plans have been written for up to $100,000…but they were used to secure tens of millions of dollars.

There should be no doubt in your head about whether you should have a business plan – if you are staring a new business you need one! Make the right decision of how you will write your business plan, who will write it, how much time and money you will spend on the process and for what outcome you are writing it.

Here is to you making it into the small percentage of successful startups!

Powerful Program Takes Small Business Start Ups from Launch to Clients in 12 Weeks
By Janis Pettit

New program will personally guide a select group of small buisness start ups and start up solo and home based business owners through each step of the start up process to take participants from launch to clients in 12 weeks

Shorten the Small Business Start Up Process with Insider Guidance from an Expert

Small and solo business start-ups can stop struggling through the often-confusing start up process. Small business growth and marketing expert Janis Pettit has just announced that Rev-Up Tactics will begin on June 6th, 2007.

Rev-Up Tactics is a new, comprehensive group-coaching program that will personally guide a select group of motivated small and solo business start ups through a 20 Step Start Up System that will shorten the learning curve and put them into a streamlined process to take them from launch to clients in a few short months.

“Start Up Secrets and Short Cuts Successful Entrepreneurs Know”, an information filled introductory tele-class audio download is available at http://RevUpTactics.com .

Rev-Up Tactics will cover systems, secrets and shortcuts that savvy entrepreneurs have learned and use to save time, money and struggle. Participants will also be given resources and knowledge that would normally only be accessed with a lot of time, research and effort.

Beginning with setting up a legal entity, through financing the business, setting up daily operations, implementing smart marketing tactics, attracting ideal clients and planning for profit, this course is a must for anyone struggling with setting up a small or solo business, and who wants a simple system and live expert guidance through the start up process.

Janis Pettit is President of SmarTrack (http://smallbusiness-bigresults.com). She has been a successful entrepreneur for nineteen years and has helped hundreds of small and solo business owners worldwide to start and grow profitable businesses through coaching, e-learning, workshops, tele-seminars, books and public speaking.

“I have seen so many micro business owners come to me dismayed at the mistakes they made during the start up process. We had to get them past those avoidable mistakes. I’ve also helped many start ups shorten the learning curve by months which caused virtually every single one to surpass their first year revenue goals.

“The problem is that starting a business involves much more than being talented or skilled at something. Start ups need to learn entrepreneurial skills and I wanted to provide a fast track to do so”, said Janis Pettit.

To learn more about this program and to register for the introductory tele-class, go to: http://RevUpTactics.com