GENERAL SITES

These sites, run by universities, entrepreneurship centers, non-profit organizations, or commercial enterprises, typically contain some combination of articles (written directly for the site or reprinted/linked from other sources), discussion boards, lists of other web resources, and sample forms. Other special features are noted. 

About.com      
http://entrepreneurs.about.com and  http://sbinformation.about.com

Bplans.com
http://www.bplans.com
Sample business, marketing, and advertising plans, cost calculators.

Business Owner’s Toolkit
http://www.toolkit.com
Extensive collection of business forms, checklists, and worksheets.

Business Owners’ Idea Café
http://www.businessownersideacafe.com
"A fun approach to serious business” : sample business plans and worksheets.
"GenX Biz" http://businessownersideacafe.com/genx section has even lighter tone.

Business Plan Center
http://www.businessplans.org
"Guidelines” includes mission statements and marketing plans.

Entrepreneurship : Howard University Business Library
http://www.howard.edu/library/Business_Library/entrepreneurship.htm
Many minority-owned and women-owned business links.

FindLaw for Small Business
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com
Many sample legal forms and contracts. Sample corporate bylaws at
http://contracts.corporate.findlaw.com/type/formation/bylaws.html

Gaebler Ventures: Resources for Entrepreneurs
http://www.gaebler.com/resources-for-entrepreneurs.htm
Mostly original articles and tips, from a small business incubator.

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
http://www.gemconsortium.org
Reports and document by country

Information Centre for Entrepreneurship—links
http://www2.hj.se/icelinks/search.asp
Search by topic, country, and language.

Kaufmann eVENTURING 
http://eventuring.kauffman.org

Morebusiness.com
http://www.morebusiness.com

National Association for the Self-Employed
http://www.nase.org
Emphasis on “microbusinesses” (fewer than 10 employees).

NFIB : National Federation of Independent Business
http://www.nfib.com
Site of small business lobbying group contains useful tips and articles as well as information on relevant federal and local government issues. Includes state-by -state Small Business Conditions Reports http://www.nfib.com/page/sbc

SCORE: Counselors to America's Small Business
http://www.score.org
Clearinghouse for free business advice from "successful entrepreneurs and executives "
"Business Tools" includes business plan templates, cash-flow spreadsheets.

SBDCNet: National Information Clearinghouse
http://sbdcnet.org

ZeroMillion.com
http://www.zeromillion.com
Geared toward the college-aged entrepreneur. Mission statement discusses the goal of "encouraging sustainable economic development in... developing countries".
 

Periodicals

These magazine and newspaper websites specialize in, or have specially designated sections for, small business or entrepreneurship issues.

Black Enterprise
http://www.blackenterprise.com

BusinessWeek Online: Small Business
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz

CNN/Money:Small Business News
http://money.cnn.com/smallbusiness

Crain’s New York Business: Small Business
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=smalbusiness

Entrepreneur
http://www.entrepreneur.com

Forbes: Entrepreneurs & Small Business
http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs

Inc.
http://www.inc.com

Minority Business Entrepreneur
http://www.mbemag.com

New York Times: Small Business
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/smallbusiness

Wall Street Journal: Small Business
http://online.wsj.com/small-business
 

Federal Government Resources: Small Business Administration Sites and Microsites  

Small Business Administration [Main site]
 http://www.sba.gov

Online Women’s Business Center 
 http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/onlinewbc/index.html

SBA : New York City, New York Office
http://www.sba.gov/localresources/district/ny/ny
Local contact information as well as national resources.

SBA : Tools
http://www.sba.gov/tools
Online publications, forms, and podcasts on finance and management.

Small Business Investment Companies (SBIC) Program
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/sbaprograms/inv/index.html
 List of venture capital resources by location. Lists criteria such as minimum/maximum amount of investment,
“funding stage preference", and industries covered.
 

Federal Government Resources: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Sites  

ATG: Audit Technique Guides
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=108149,00.html
Insights into business ratios and norms of specific types of business and industries. Formerly known as / part of the IRS Market Segment Specialization Program (MSSP); some guides are still labeled that way.

Small Business and Self Employed One-Stop Resource
 http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small
 Along with appropriate tax forms, site includes general business forms and guides originally written for  auditors.

Starting a Business
 http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=99336,00.html
 Checklists, business planning help, etc.

Business.gov
 http://www.business.gov
 “One-stop access to federal government information, services...transactions".
Includes features previously at the separate BusinessLaw.gov site.

Entrepreneurship.gov
http://www.entrepreneurship.gov  OR http://www.entrepreneurship.org
Partnership between the U.S. Department of Commerce and the private Kaufmann foundation (affiliated with Kaufmann E-Venturing

US Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship
http://sbc.senate.gov
Relevant news, legislation, and lobbying efforts.
http://sbc.senate.gov/republican is the affiliate site for the minority party

Women-21.gov
http://www.women-21.gov
Cooperative effort of the US Department of Labor and the Small Business Administration
 

NEW YORK STATE RESOURCES 

NYS Citizen Guide: Business 
http://www.nysegov.com/citGuide.cfm?superCat=28&content=main
Contains sub-categories “small business information" and “starting a business”.

New York Business Development Corporation
http://www.nybdc.com
Loan opportunities for small businesses, especially women-owned and minority-owned businesses.

New York Department of State, Corporations FAQs
http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/faq.htm
Certificate of Incorporation [form] http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/pdfs/dos1239.pdf
NYS DOS Corporation Filings [form instructions] http://www.dos.state.ny.us/corp/buscorp.html#certinc

New York Loves Business
http://www.nylovesbiz.com/default.asp

New York State Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform
http://www.gorr.state.ny.us/gorr
Starting a Business http://www.gorr.state.ny.us/gorr/Main_GORR_Pages/Permits/Startbus.html
Online Permit Assistance and Licensing http://www.nys-opal.com
Choose the type of business you are starting, answer a few online questions, and you will be provided links to
apply for NY State and some Federal required licenses and certificates.

New York State Small Business Development Center
http://www.nyssbdc.org
Partnership of the SBA and The State University of New York (SUNY). Easy to follow FAQs.

Start a Business
http://www.tax.state.ny.us/sbc/starting_business.htm
 

NEW YORK CITY RESOURCES

NYC Small Business Resource Center (SBRC)
http://smallbiz.nypl.org
Partnership of the New York Public Library  and several government and private organizations.
Includes Business Owner’s Manual  http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/smallbiz/business

NYC.gov: The Official New York City Website
http://www.nyc.gov
New York City Business Express  http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/businessexpress  License and permit requirements
New York City Business Solutions http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/starting/starting.shtml
New York City Department of Small Business Services http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs
EasyStart Business Guide in New York City
http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/downloads/pdf/easy_start_business_guide.pdf

New York City Economic Development Corporation 
http://www.nycedc.com
Emphasizes incentives for businesses in specific New York City neighborhoods, or for following certain programs (specific industries, energy saving programs, etc.)

New York Public Library: Internet Sites for Small/Minority Owned Businesses
http://www.nypl.org/research/sibl/smallbus/sbinternet.cfm
Also: Small Business Information http://nypl.org/research/sibl/smallbus/smallbus.htm
Best of the Web : Business & Finance: Small Business http://www.nypl.org/links/index.cfm?Trg=1&d1=149&d3=Small Business

SBA NYC office site
http://www.sba.gov/localresources/district/ny/ny
Local contact information as well as national resources.
 

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