hi mates. the following stuff is pasted from www.iee.org, which is about some online resources of business start-up. it is also the clue with which I came to this forum :-). hope some of you would find it useful, though a bit long...bear with it. Rex "OK, it's time to do some research on starting your own business, but where do you start? Let's take a look at some of the non-official websites, i.e. sites which aren't connected with associations or government. A good place to start is at http://www.inc.com. Inc. is a monthly US magazine with a sound reputation, whose target audiences are entrepreneurs and smaller businesses. On the home page in the advice column, there are two main sections of interest - Getting Started and Growing Your Business. Each of these sections has a number of subsections, which include well-written short guides on topics like writing a business plan, starting a business, running a one-person business, customer service, buying a franchise and e-commerce. As Inc. is a US magazine, its content obviously has a US-bias, so although all of it is relevant for US entrepreneurs, this is not the case for those in other geographies, e.g. the information on raising finance and capital. It's worth bearing this in mind when checking out other US web sites as well. A site with a lot of information, including useful templates is http://www.morebusiness.com which is published by Kehra Communications Inc of the US. The site has been quoted in numerous magazines and newspapers as being very useful to entrepreneurs and those contemplating starting up on their own. For instance, it has appeared in web site rankings compiled by both Forbes and Fortune over the last few years. Under the Start-up tab at the top of the home page, there's a link to a Small Business Primer, which has some useful up-beat articles, e.g. Points to Ponder, 12 Steps to Entrepreneurial Success and 12 Steps to a Successful Business. Other useful sections on the site are Running a SmallBiz and Templates, where you'll find templates for press releases, business agreements and business checklists, as well as samples for each category. A UK web site, which offers plenty of advice for starting your own business is http://www.startups.co.uk. The site has a professional look and feel; it's put together and maintained by Crimson Publishing Company Ltd. It has a number of categories including Starting Up, Franchising, Raising Finance, Finding Premises, Taking on Staff, Promoting your Business and Working from Home. In the Starting Up section, one article discusses the type of personality and skills needed to be successful in running your own business - definitely worth reading if you're about to take the plunge in this economic climate. Another feature of the site is the Services section, which links you to details of legal, tax advice and technical hotlines run by the Startups web site - these are not free, but could be useful if you have a technical question and need an answer immediately. There's a section where you can search and browse for a business for sale too. Startbusiness http://www.startbusiness.co.uk is another commercial UK site. There's no information on this site to say who's behind the venture, but nevertheless it has some good information for budding entrepreneurs. The Site Index is the place to begin. The best information sections here are those entitled Business Plans, Checklist and Books. Other sections such as Startup Statistics and Sacred Cows, don't really add much value, but there's a section called Case Studies, which could prove useful once it's ready. Back to the other side of the Atlantic, and there's PowerhomeBiz http://www.powerhomebiz.com an online magazine published by a company of the same name. It's billed as "offering a wide range of high quality information and tools for home businesses". This site is worth visiting for a dose of motivation. Just check out the Success Stories section, which profiles people who've succeeded in starting up as well as those who have been awarded the title of Small Business Person of the Year by the US Small Business Association. All the stories ooze with enthusiasm, which is what's needed by any entrepreneur. For example, there's a long profile of Geese Police, the small business that David Marcks founded in 1986. Geese Police is now a thriving company which uses dogs to chase geese off corporate properties, parks and golf courses! Other sections on the web site range from Tools & Solutions - basically a list of suppliers, to Small Biz News and Consult Your Guide - a question and answer page. The US Entrepreneur magazine's web site http://www.entrepreneurmag.com merits a surf too, covering all the usual topics from Start-Up Basics, Getting Ideas, to Naming your Business and Market Research. Websites for the Young and Young at Heart If you're between the ages of 16-30, then be sure to bookmark ShellLivewire http://www.shell-livewire.org, the site run by Shell to accelerate and help young business ideas. But even if you're over 30, it's still a good web site to browse around, as it covers all the basic aspects of entrepreneurship and starting your own business. A lot of the text is in question format too, so you start thinking about the pros and cons of starting up on your own. On the home page, the box labelled "Information to get you started" takes you to web pages highlighting the right skills, the right idea, FAQs and e-commerce. The page on e-commerce leads to a series of questions in pop-up boxes making you seriously contemplate whether your proposed business venture really does require a web presence. The FAQs section is good and covers such areas as who are my potential customers, how will I sell my product or service, why should I keep financial records? If you know what you want to do and are just looking for more information on business plans, download the handy pdf document called "Writing your First Business Plan". You'll get to it by clicking on the box called "Want to Win 10,000 pounds?" From this page, you can also meet the finalists of the Shell Livewire Business Start Up Awards. Once you've read about them, you'll definitely be inspired and motivated! The Prince's Trust http://www.princes-trust.org.uk was founded by the Prince of Wales in 1976. One of its aims is to help young people in the UK between the ages of 18-30, who want to start their own business. The trust can help with loans, grants and arrange for young entrepreneurs to receive advice from a Business Mentor during their first three years of trading. So far, the trust has helped over 400,000 young people. To read about its achievements, check out the web page called Difference to Me, which is under Exchange Ideas. Although there's no specific information on how to start your own business on the web site, it's a good organization to know about if you are eligible for its support. Websites for Women Only! A couple more commercial sites, aimed at women, are http://www.ivillage.co.uk and http://www.busygirl.co.uk. Here's an interesting statistic on women-owned businesses - according to the Startup Statistics section of http://www.startbusiness.co.uk, "Businesses owned by women are more likely to operate in credit than male-owned companies (56 per cent:51 per cent)". From the ivillage.co.uk home page, choose the Work & Career channel for more information. This channel has articles on career shifting, the pros and cons of working from home, freelancing and how to start your own business. In the section on how to start your own business, there's a step-by-step guide called SEED - Sustainable Enterprise and Empowerment Dynamics, created by entrepreneur Lynn Franks and billed as "The feminine way to create business". The SEED program is food for thought and contains some practical exercises too. The Busygirl web site is a good place to go if you're looking specifically for information on Internet start-ups, Internet incubation, venture capital and emerging technologies. There are links to networking forums, details on web training and an online discussion forum too. The site was announced in July 2001 by the Sunday Times as the UK's best site for women entrepreneurs. Getting Serious - Web Sites Belonging to Government Departments, Associations and Official Organizations Now to the more traditional resources for entrepreneurs and self-starters - government, official organizations and associations. Again, there are a number of choices, both for US and UK residents. If you're based in the UK, then take a look at the Inland Revenue's web site http://www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk. One of the featured areas is Starting up in Business. This hyperlink takes you to a handy guide on starting your own business and is available in both html and pdf format. As the information is provided by the Inland Revenue, the emphasis is on tax and national insurance issues, but there's plenty of other useful information as well, covering launching, growing and maintaining your business. The National Federation of Enterprise Agencies, http://www.nfea.com is a network of independent not-for-profit local enterprise agencies. From this umbrella web site, you can find your local enterprise agency representative and see how they can help. There's also a hyperlink to a great-sounding web site called Smallbusinessadvice http://www.smallbusinessadvice.org.uk, an independent source of information, whose target audiences are entrepreneurs, owner-managers, the self-employed and those thinking of starting or running a business with a staff of less than ten and who are located in England. Resources include business planning guidelines (Getting Started, Business Plans, Free Downloads), e-business information, a business chat room, a business discussion group and links to other useful web sites. Registration is required for the unique feature of the site - the Business Enquiry Service. Once you have registered, you can send enquiries directly via this service to one of the 200+ accredited business advisers, who are all members of the UK Enterprise Agency Network. If you're based in the US, then a visit to the web site of the Small Business Administration at http://www.sba.gov is worthwhile. Here you'll find sections on Starting your Business, Financing your Business, Business Opportunities as well as an Online Library. Even if you're not based in the US, a visit to the Online Library is a must. The library is divided into Reading Rooms e.g. Laws & Regulations, Reports, Studies & Statistics and Publications. The Publications Reading Room contains the most comprehensive and thoroughly researched guides and fact sheets on the subject of starting your own business - it's a real gold mine. Choose from Marketing Strategies for Growing Businesses, Strategic Planning for Growing Businesses, Pricing your Products and Services Profitably, Business Plan for Home Based Businesses, Checklist for Going into Business or Avoiding Patent, Trademark and Copyright Problems. All the guides and fact sheets are available in three formats - text, Word 97 or pdf. Tracking back to the section on Starting your Business, there are two useful subsections - Your First Steps, written in question format to really make you think hard, and Business Plans, from where you can download a start-up kit. No business can get off the ground successfully without a good business plan, so it's worth spending some time reading up on how to write them. If you're looking for inspiration again, then go to the Success Stories page - there are lots of short stories to get you motivated. How about "Cookie Dough Balls have Everybody Goin' Ape" or "The Goddess is Alive and Prospering in Marblehead?" To end this brief review of web resources published by government, official organizations or associations, take a look at the Start Your Own Business Guide researched and written by Ron Immink and Brian O'Kane, which is available on the web site of the Irish Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment http://www.entemp.ie/syob. The guide is in four parts - and takes the form of an extended traffic light, but with four lights - Ready, Steady, Go and Keep Going. It really is a first-class guide. There's lots of information and questions to get you thinking. Each traffic light section takes the format of a workbook too, so once you've printed the four sections out, you can start putting your answers down on paper, knowing that at the end of the exercise, you'll be a lot clearer about the feasibility of your business. So if you want to know what makes an entrepreneur, or how to develop your idea or how to identify future trends, be sure to check this site out. Don't be stuck in a rut any longer - use the above web resources to weigh up if you really can take the plunge successfully and become your own boss!"