Best Resources for Entrepreneurs

1. Small business association

The small business association remains the best asset for anyone jumping into the field of entrepreneurship. They offer planners, services, tools and local resources. In addition to their content on their website, the entrepreneur can also access a free e-newsletter as well. They offer free online training and different types of government assisted business loans. With the small business association, everything needed to start up a business is at your fingertips. They offer free resources not only for those who are striving to start a business, but they also assist those who have already started their own business as well.

2. Score

Score offers online workshops, from business planning with a snapshot business plan to helping to determine if you can afford to start up your own business. They also provide workshops in making your new business competitive with making the best decision on prices, analyzing competition targeting the right market and creating a competitive advantage above other companies in that field. In addition, they provide workshops in growing, marketing and maintaining your business as well. They also provide extensive how to resources on all aspects of starting and maintaining your business without having to go through the workshops. Their business tools section feature templates for business plans and cash flow plans.

3. Entrepreneurship

This website offers the new entrepreneur tips, articles and resources on all aspects of entrepreneurship. They provide articles on every fundamental aspect of starting up a company, from start up costs and finding investors, to how and who to hire for your new business. They also offer comprehensive data on how to handle situations that can arise when a customer is not satisfied with the services provided. They also offer a wide range of legal resources necessary to starting and maintaining a business. They also provide a blog where new business owners can connect to others who are also becoming entrepreneurs with their own company..

4. Stanford University

Stanford has always been one of the top colleges nationwide for entrepreneurs to attend. Now, they also offer resources for those who did not attend the school but want the resources available. The website offers online lectures, free of charge on many different aspects of entrepreneurship. These topics include Creativity and innovation, opportunity recognition, product development, marketing and sales, finance and venture capital, leadership and adversity, globalization, social entrepreneurship and career and life balance. In addition, they add new videos every day to help the entrepreneur achieve their goals, whether they attend Stanford, another college or have no formal training at all.

5. Forbes

Forbes offer all entrepreneurs tips and tricks through their in depth articles on boosting business, financing businesses, human resources, business laws and taxes, different new, promising companies, sales and marketing and management. They offer numerous other articles as well, such as “millionaire high school dropouts”, and “the greatest risks they ever took”. These articles help to encourage the entrepreneur who may think that since they do not have formal training, they can still succeed, as well as teaching them that sometimes when you take a big risk; it will pay off the biggest as well.

6. Entrepreneur

Entrepreneur offers resources on many aspects of starting up a business. From franchise opportunities to growing your business, they offer a wide range of resources to any entrepreneur. This website offers free informative articles on a wide range of topics including online businesses, management, home based businesses, human resources, money, marketing, advertising and more. In addition, when one of these topics is chosen, there are numerous sub categories as well, making it easy for anyone to find exactly what they are looking for. More great features for this website are the entrepreneur magazine that is available online and in print, and the entire site is also available on most mobile devices so the entrepreneur can take it when they are on the go.

7. Bloomberg Business week

Bloomberg’s business week has numerous articles available online for aspiring entrepreneurs to use as resources. While this was normally available in print only, it is now available online as well. The online version has resources from different articles, with the resources and links needed embedded in them, but also numerous resources about the new health care reform act and how this will affect new entrepreneurs. This website also offers an application on the IPod as well, making finding the information the entrepreneur needs on the go easily accessible.

8. Kauffman foundation

Kauffman is one of the largest foundations today, specializing in growth and advancement of entrepreneurs. They offer resources to youth and minorities who want to become entrepreneurs. They have resources on how to overcome obstacles in this turbulent economy, as well as resources to gain capital from donors. They also have links provided to other resources that are there to help entrepreneurs as well. Kauffman.org believes that science and technology is the foundation for all entrepreneurs and they are constantly adding new articles relating to their research on helping young entrepreneurs discover their scientifically minds.

9. The National Venture Capital Association

The NVCA offers resources for entrepreneurs to fund the capital needed to start up a business. They provide resources to research as well as current statistics. They also offer webcasts that are on topics related to venture capital and how to create more of it. In addition, they also offer videos related to venture capital as well. While this is a great site for gaining capital, that is the only thing that it has to offer, it is not a full service website that offers resources for all aspects of entrepreneurship.

10. PA Food Ventures

PA food ventures are a wonderful resource for any entrepreneur that is interested in the food industry. While it does not cater to all businesses, it offers an extensive range of resources from how to start a food business to the state and federal regulations as well as ingredients, safety and sanitation, equipment needed and links to various resources as well. PA food ventures are part of the Penn State University website.