Thinking about starting a home business or side business? My tongue-in-cheek checklist might let you know if you are ready for it—or go through a ‘real’ assessment to determine whether or not you are ready to start a business (warning—it’s pretty conservative, so don’t let it discourage you from continuing to prepare yourself for entrepreneurship).
So let’s say you’ve made the decision to start a business, or maybe you have even been in business for a while. I have found that the majority of home-based entrepreneurs I know and have met online have no idea how many free resources are out there to help you start or grow your business.
While I have nothing against paid help—and have paid for help in the past (and was glad I did!), the following resources are greatly under-used, in my humble opinion. So whether you’re just dreaming of business plans or have years of experience under your belt, the following links can help you run a better business:
- Free Web-Based Business Courses from the SBA
- Small Business Association Podcast also from the SBA
- Interactive Business Planner from the Government of Canada
- More Free Web-Based Business Courses from BusinessWeek
- Free Business Advice from SCORE—Online Q&A or find a location near you to ask in person
- Get access to leading entrepreneurs with Entrepreneur.com’s new Ask Entrepreneur feature
- Get Free Business Forms (be careful, sometimes you need state-specific forms in certain circumstances)
- Quicken has a free small business software version of QuickBooks available for PC users, or check out these free money management alternatives
- Microsoft has a free startup help center with both learning resources and hints on how to use their products for small businesses
- And there’s nothing more appealing about “free” than when its free money. IdeaCafe regularly gives away small business grants to deserving entrepreneurs.
