Let’s face it– starting a small business is hard. There are lots of ways out here to fail in business. The secret weapon that I use for keeping my business strong is being a life-long learner. One of the ways I grow myself and keep my mind sharp is being a veracious reader. I read books, magazine, and a steady diet of business blogs and websites.
I scour the Internet each day, looking for articles, blogs, and actionable tips about small business success for my readers and followers. I thought I would share where I find the information that I often share, so you might build up your own online library of small business resources. There a few online resources out there that I think are the best resources on how to start a small business. Here are my 10 best picks for how to start a small business websites.
Entrepreneur .com. When it comes to educating entrepreneurs the first resource that comes to mind is Entrepreneur magazine. They have vast online resources including their business startup section, http://www.entrepreneur.com/startingabusiness/index.html. I also think they offer the most comprehensive how to start a small business information. They have how-to guides, startup basics, home based businesses, and sections on business ideas, financing and success story profiles. (In the interest of disclosure, I do write a monthly column for their sister website, SecondAct.com, but I was reading Entrepreneur long before that!)
Inc. Magazine has been educating small business owners over 30 years. They have an excellent series of how-to guides that cover everything from start-up to passing the business down to the next generation. One of my favorite sections is http://www.inc.com/tools where you can find templates for how to do just about everything from writing a business plan, to sales forecasting, to developing a job description
SmallBizTrends.com, is an excellent resource for small business owners. If you want to keep your business current. Regularly check out information on this site. Editor Anita Campbell is top notch and makes sure that she says on the cutting edge of the needs of small business owners. (Disclosure: I write blogs for this website on occasion.)
BlackEnterprise.com Black Enterprise magazine is my favorite small business magazine and their online resources for entrepreneurs are invaluable. While their content does not exclusively talk about small business ownership, they have great tips for college age business owners. They also have the Black Enterprise Small Business University which is free video training for small business owners available on their website. (Disclosure: I do write blogs for this website on occasion, and I am one of the instructors for the Black Enterprise Small Business University.)
Bplans.com This is a terrific resource for how to start a small business with a business plan. This free web site offers over 500 sample business plans that you can review for tips and insights. It is published by Tim Berry the creator of Business Plan Pro software, who is the Founder and Chairman of Palo Alto Software. This site also offers terrific blog content from small business experts across the web. (Disclosure: I am an affiliate reseller of business plan pro software.)
SCORE.org is an online mentoring program for start-up businesses and seasoned entrepreneurs. SCORE is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping small businesses start, grow, and succeed nationwide. There are more than 350 SCORE chapters nationwide, and you can get face-to-face coaching for your business as well. SCORE is a resource partner with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and has been mentoring small business owners for more than forty years.
New York Times “You’re the Boss” Blog. I love this blog from the New York Times because for the most
TheWorkatHomeWoman.com The Work at Home Woman website is a resource dedicated to helping women and moms fulfill their dreams of working at home and/or becoming self employed, while providing inspiration, motivation and support. I like this website because it offers woman business owners and mompreneurs tips especially for them in business.
Lau
nchwhileworking.com One of the key things I preach about starting a business is that people should start a small business as a side hustle while still working their full-time job. This website launch while working is all about how to do just that. This website is dedicated to helping would-be entrepreneurs simplify your life so you can successfully launch and run a business while working full-time.
S
ucceedasyourownboss.com This is my blog, and I provide valuable tips to start and grow a profitable and sustainable small business 3-5 times a week. I offer a fresh perspective on small business ownership with how-to articles, audio interviews, and video answers to your small business questions. Every Thursday, I also feature Q&A interviews with small business experts who are me guest on my weekly twitter talkshow #Smallbizchat. I also make the transcripts available weekly on the site. I am the bestselling author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months and Forbes magazine named me the #1 woman for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter.
Businessinsider.com Here’s an honorable mention to this list: The business insider blog is a great blog for entrepreneurs. It’s not always about small business, but they provide great trend information that often affects small business owners.
Do you have any other website that you use for fuel in your small business?
For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
I love the Business On Main site – I’m a member of a group of bloggers who are compensated for sharing the information contained there, but it’s really valuable content for small business owners. I’ve learned a lot from participating in the group. http://businessonmain.msn.com/#fbid=Xo1zVPbq_sk
Wow – thanks Melinda! I’m honored to be mentioned alongside such great business resources!
Thanks for sharing valuable practical and necessary information for business owners. I have one of your articles posted on my prayer blog. Entrepreneurs need to pray too. http:ladyofprayer.com
Prayer is the Key. And it opens the lucked doors.
thank you for your insightful tips and resources for new businesses for women. http://secretlawofabundance.com appreciates.
These are great recommendations and you are absolutely right, being a constant student in business and life, will keep you motivated, fresh, and growing.
Lots of really helpful resources. I also found problogger very helpful http://www.problogger.net/ both in terms of providing advice on how to develop an effective strategy for blog content and also as a source for ideas on how to monetize your blog–something many small business owners struggle with.
Funny you should mention getting dressed. I actually had someone tell me her kids didn’t think she had a “real job” because she didn’t put on a suit every morning, jump in the car, and head off to an “office.” So she had to make a conscious effort to set some boundaries so they would view her work-from-home job just the same as if she was working onsite at a company.
Melinda,
This is really great information. You have place 10 of the best resources all in one neat little message.
I have found Site Build It! to be one of the best all-in-one website startups for the new entreprenuer. You not only get website and hosting but also assistance with Keyword selection, SEO, email marketing, newsletter generation, auto-responders and many other features that you would have to pay for separately with many other website builders.
Thanks Melinda for sharing this info. I plan to start my own food business soon and some of the tips you have provided are extremely useful and have made me think more creatively suitable to the market I am targetting.
Great tips – these could have helped me immensely when I started my business.
You asked about other sites. I’ve recently started a site for social entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, http://www.changetheworldmarketing.com. It covers both marketing strategy and the technical aspects of having an online business that so many small businesses find challenging. I’d love to hear what you think of my blog.
This is my first time visiting your site; it has an amazing amount of material on it! Each blog post is thorough and valuable. Keep it up!
Great tips here Melinda,
It’s about continuing to learn to be the best you can be in your market.. But what’s your thoughts on this, do you think learning is more important or taking the right action is more important and why?
This is a GREAT list. I also use http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/
when I write articles on small business topics.
Heya i am for the primary time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out a lot. I am hoping to offer something back and help others like you aided me.
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Really useful article with some fantastic resources, thanks. If it’s of interest I run an online collective of businesses with values called Cuckoo Vine. I write a journal which is an honest and candid account of an entrepreneur (me) with a great idea (Cuckoo Vine), it’s doing really well and provides a very frank and entertaining insight into the world of an ambitious startup. May be of use to some of the readers here!
Thank you Melinda for the great article. To all the readers, classified ad is a free channel for advertising & marketing your business.
Thanks for the time you took speaking with me. I will use the tools you gave me to get the word out to the world about “The Clidy Group” ….I look forward to reading your informational blogs…..
Melinda,you what noone can take it from you,that’s an aweson resource list.It will go along in helping me out on my dream Businee.God Bless YOU.nathobaze
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Hi Melinda!
First time here… Like the site! Anyway… I love tip 9. That was my personal approach to doing my own thing. You get the security that the “ball and chain” gives you, thus allowing you the financial flexibility to make the business easier to fund (and survive).
Fantastic suggestions indeed. These kinds of may have aided myself profoundly once i started out my own enterprise.
Great help. I have my own business site, though it’s not as good as yours. It would be more beneficial for me if I had read this post before launching my site. I follow Entrepreneur as they are great, I also like reading New York Times. I don’t know on what basis you have ranked or just arbitrarily, it would be nice to see New York Times within top three. Though Work at home women sounds for women they are equally beneficial for all sorts of small business and also for SME. Thanks for great list.
I recommend score. I’ve scheduled a few meetings with them. Hard to get a meeting with them, but they are volunteers so you need to respect their time.