If there’s one thing every entrepreneur can agree on when it comes to building and running a business, it’s this: You can’t go it alone.
Here are 5 go-to resources for small businesses that will keep you organized and informed, no matter where you are in your entrepreneurial journey.
1. Small Business Administration
As stated on their website, the Small Business Administration (SBA) exists to “aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns.”
What does that mean exactly? The SBA grants financial assistance such as loans, works with federal agencies to supply contracts, and offers free counseling to new entrepreneurs.
The SBA website is chock-full of valuable resources such as online courses that help entrepreneurs plan and launch new businesses.
2. Your State’s Small Business Development Center
If the SBA is a bigger-picture, more macro resource, the SBDC is its micro, more niche counterpart. Every state in the U.S. has a SBDC, which offers local training workshops, connects entrepreneurs to business advisors and special events, assists in business planning and much more.
Find your state’s SBDC resources by searching for your ZIP code or state on the SBDC America website.
3. Business Forms on entrepreneur.com
If you’re ready to get organized and down to brass tacks, entrepreneur.com has your back. The site houses an entire arm of hundreds of business forms, templates and financial calculators — whether you’re entering a partnership agreement, giving employee performance reviews or compiling a profit and loss statement.
Besides these types of resources, the main website regularly updates an insightful business blog and alerts you to the latest webinars, events and more.
4. Practical Ecommerce
For all-things online sales, this family-owned online magazine makes it a point to stress its agnostic stance when it comes to ecommerce services, platforms or providers. That means purely objective, invaluable information on what it takes to become a master online merchant.
5. Business 2 Community
This massive content hub has become a widely-acclaimed resource for small businesses. Its 10,000+ contributors with business expertise regularly update the site with the latest news, tips and more on the business landscape.
Currently trending articles include, “How to Keep Consumer Data Secure on Your E-Commerce Website”, “Building a Business on Customer Empathy”, “How to Amplify the Impact of Your CRM” and more.
Business 2 Community is currently ranked in the Top 100 Small Business Blogs by Technorati.