Firm Foundation Technology, LLC's Small Business Update
for Monday July 19th, 2004
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Headlines
Best Small Business Resources Online
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Ahh, Summer. Summer is very typically a slow time of year for business IT News. A lot of the action from the big technology companies right now is focused on getting busy for the back-to-school season. There are some interesting developments brewing that I plan on covering next week though. This week it's back-to-school, of sorts, for the FFT~SBU.
Class is in session on the best online resources for small businesses. Here are the best, most chocked-full, and mainly free, resources online for small businesses. I'll tell you why I think so as well.
~ United States Small Business Administration - http://www.sba.gov
The resources available online at the SBA are just to numerous to count. This site should be in every small business owners favorites lists. I want to highlight one specific area of the web site called "The Small Business Training Network" ( http://www.sba.gov/training/ ) that is particularly useful. It has two main sections of great value. The first is the links to various online courses relevant to every phase of a small business. The courses are not necessarily hosted by the SBA, for example Bank of America, but are worth looking into. The second powerful set of resources is the Library section. Over 200 hundred SBA publications and links to thousands more web sites make this a must bookmark site.
~ SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives) - http://www.score.org
The SCORE volunteers have seen it all, done it all, and now are willing to give advise to all. Lots of practical real world advise. Check out the Top 5 Business Tips area in the Learning Center for some quick learning.
~ Business Reference Services at the Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/rr/business/
If you are looking for information on physical books about business, go no further. Make sure you scan the The Entrepreneur's Reference Guide to Small Business Information (listed in the Bibliographies & Guides section) and then read it in depth later.
~ American Library Association - Business Reference and Services Section - http://www.ala.org/BRASSTemplate.cfm?Section=brassprotools
Browse through the Core Competencies for Business Reference and the Best of the Best Business Web Sites sections to know what your local reference librarian knows.
~ CCH Business Owner's Toolkit - http://toolkit.cch.com/
This comprehensive site has deep guides, helpful information, sample business documents, checklists and a lot more. If you are keeping track you will notice this is the first commercial site I've mentioned. Yes, there are ads on the site and CCH does sell advice as well. The depth and breadth of this information is worth putting up with a few ads.
~ NOLO Legal Encyclopedia - http://www.nolo.com/lawcenter/index.cfm
Those wacky lawyers at Nolo have written about a gazillion words of general legal information about everything, including running a business. And just to show they have a sense of humor they also have an extensive collection of lawyer jokes. The books are great sources of off-line reference as well.
~ About.com's Small Business area - http://about.com/smallbusiness/
Since About.com is a collector of resources from all over the web the information can be less than helpful sometimes. But if you can't find it anywhere else try here.
~ Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business
The "Wiki" is a collaboratively developed free online encyclopedia. The Wiki claims to have over 1200 business and economics articles. You just have to experience the Wiki to understand it.
-- The Small Business Impact --
Fire up your web browsers and get learning.
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See you next week
Stan
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