Small Business Guide - Moneysmartz

Small Business Guide

Moneysmartz Small Business Guide Overview

Small business is the engine of the U.S. economy. Fueled by dreams of independence, prosperity, and success, entrepreneurs truly reflect the spirit of the United States. However, as experienced business owners will say, it takes a lot for a small business to succeed, including more than a little luck along the way. The Moneysmartz Small Business guide offers an overview of small business information and resources on the web including help getting started, staying in business, and eventually prospering.
More on Moneysmartz: Business Ownership

Small Business Navigation Tips

Start with the big picture by visiting a small business portal or planning center like Inc.com, Entrepreneur, or About Entrepreneurs.

Learn about the key elements of business success where success or failure depends on the balance of planning and doing: Planning for a Business, Starting a Business, Managing a Business, and Exiting a Business. Finally, the goal of business is to grow and prosper, so do not forget about profitably growing your business.

Learn about small business financial management. Every business needs a plan. For help creating a complete plan visit About Entrepreneurs Business Plans. If you don't think you need a comprehensive business plan, then visit Garage.com. Next, don not forget about annual budgeting and day-to-day accounting. A good place to start crunching the numbers is QuickBooks and Quicken for the Home and Small Business. You cannot avoid taxes so be sure to spend some time with the dreaded IRS. Lastly, unless your business is instantly profitably or you have a pile of cash to start your business, you will need to find capital. Start with the Small Business Administration, local banks, friends, and family. There are a lot of financing options, but most of them unavailable until your business begins showing a profit. For general information, look to the About.com Business Loan page. If your business is fast growing and willing to give away a slice of the pie, then consider venture capital seed funding. One of the advantages to owning a small business is the myriad of retirement plans available to successful businesses. For help with setting up retirement plans visit the IRS retirement plan page.

Business owners are notoriously independent, but you cannot succeed without at least a little help along the way, so for business-to-business networking and camaraderie visit Open Forum from American Express. For local face-to-face assistance, try Accountants World for accountants, Lawyers.com for lawyers and Paladin Registry for financial planners.

Technology levels the playing field for small business owners including online and offline marketing. Marketing vehicles like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook did not exist or were barely a blip on the marketing radar a couple years ago. Not so today, so do not be afraid to learn a few new tricks. The key is to put your toe in the water and eventually go for it with full immersion. For everything you need in one place visit Yahoo! Small Business. For do-it-yourself advertising try Google Adwords. For social networking advertising go straight to the source with LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. For email and newsletter marketing you cannot miss with Constant Contact.

The Moneysherpa says remember these words from Calvin Coolidge about persistence: "Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

Web Pages

About.com: Entrepreneurs - All about starting and running your business including blogs, technology tips, and small business topics.
http://entrepreneurs.about.com/ View Profile

AllBusiness - Business resources for large and small businesses including advice, forms, and information by topic.
http://www.allbusiness.com/ View Profile

Business.gov - Business.gov helps small businesses understand their legal requirements and locate government services from federal, state and local agencies. Business.gov is an official site of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
http://www.business.gov/index.html View Profile

BusinessWeek Small Business Section - Small business news and information.
http://www.businessweek.com/small-business/ View Profile

Entrepreneur - Information, resources, and insights for small business owners, entrepreneurs, and individuals looking for or running franchises.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/ View Profile

FindLaw Small Business Center - Legal resources and information for business owners and entrepreneurs including legal tips and help with forming your business.
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/ View Profile

Garage Technology Ventures Resources for Entrepreneurs - Articles, books, and resources on starting and running a business from Garage Technology Ventures.
http://www.garage.com/resources/index.shtml View Profile

Huffpost Small Business - Small business information and resources.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/small-business/ View Profile

Inc.com - Small business and small business information for the entrepreneur including blogs, tools and research, newsletters and information by topic.
http://www.inc.com/ View Profile

Internal Revenue Service - Small business and self-employed one-stop resource.
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/ View Profile

IRS.gov Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center - Tax-related forms, publications, and information from the IRS for small business owners and the self-employed.
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/index.html View Profile

National Federation of Independent Business - Home page of the NFIB offering information, research, resources, and links to state resources.
http://www.nfib.com/ View Profile

Quicken.com - Software for running your small business.
http://quicken.intuit.com/personal-finance-software/home-and-small-business.jsp View Profile

Small Business - Introduction to small business by Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_business View Profile

Small Business - CNNMoney - Small business news, articles, and video. Includes list of best place to launch a business.
http://money.cnn.com/smallbusiness/ View Profile

Small Business Benefits from Bank of America Merrill Lynch - Get the most from your small business retirement plan with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and create small business benefits that attract and retain the best employees.
http://www.benefitplans.baml.com/IR/Pages/sb.aspx View Profile

SmallBusiness.com - Small business resource wiki.
http://www.smallbusiness.com/wiki/Main_Page View Profile

SmartBiz.com - Small business resources, information, and articles including online tools and ideas.
http://www.smartbiz.com/ View Profile

The New York Times Small Business Page - Small business news and resources including expert guides, advice, case studies, and conversation.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/smallbusiness/index.html View Profile

U.S. Small Business Administration - Programs and services to help small businesses start, grow, and succeed.
http://www.sba.gov/ View Profile

Yahoo! Small Business - News and resources and everything you need to manage your small business including web hosting, Ecommerce, domains, email, and web marketing.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/ View Profile

Copyright © 2012 Moneysmartz All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer: Nothing contained in Moneysmartz is intended to be, nor shall it be construed as, investment or financial advice. The listings on Moneysmartz do not in any way constitute a referral or endorsement by Moneysmartz. Your access to and use of this site is subject to additional Terms and Conditions.