Editor's Choice

Articles

"The Insider’s Guide to the SBA" by Mitchell Stern. Working Woman, October 1996, p. 44.
–Discusses Small Business Administration loans to women and women-owned businesses including Women’s Prequalification Pilot Loan Program as well as training and management assistance programs.

Burnes, Kent, Secrets to Small Business Success. SMART Resource Center. (800) 848-8000.
–Covers key topics ranging from visual merchandising to advertising, customer service, price and profit. Also available on audiotape.

Norman, Jan, What No One Ever Tells You About Starting Your Own Business: Real Life Start-Up Advice from 101 Successful Entrepreneurs. Landmark Communications, 1998.
–Shares lessons learned by entrepreneurs to enable new and existing business owners to make and implement better organizational, marketing and financial decisions.

Peal, David, et. al., Small Business Resource Guide to the Web 1997. Lycos Press, 1997.
–Offers tips on being an effective Internet researcher, marketing strategies and using free government sites to your advantage. Includes CD-ROM.

SMART Steps to Small Business Success. SMART Resource Center. (800) 848-8000.
–A complete step-by-step guide to starting, operating and succeeding in small business.

Stansell, Kimberly, Bootstrapper’s Success Secrets. Career Press, 1997.
–Provides 151 tactics on building your small business on a small budget. Order toll free at (800) CAREER-1.

Ultimate Careers and Businesses. MGC Publications. (800) 531-9874.
–Contains information on more than 500 resources for those seeking their ideal career or business. Describes assistance available from trade associations, government agencies and entrepreneurial organizations. Also lists numerous relevant Web sites.

Directories

AT&T Toll-Free 800 Numbers, Consumer and Business Telephone Directories. SMART Resource Center. (800) 848-8000.
–Contains alphabetical listings of businesses and organizations throughout the U.S. with 800 numbers.

Fax USA. SMART Resource Center. (800) 848-8000.
–Contains fax numbers for the largest businesses and organizations in the U.S. Indexed alphabetically and geographically.

Government Directory of Telephone Numbers. SMART Resource Center. (800) 848-8000.
–Provides names of departments, elected officials, offices and titles, legislatures and courts. Includes quick-reference and organizational listings, as well as a key word index.

The National Directory of Address and Telephone Numbers. SMART Resource Center. (800) 848-8000.
–Lists leading corporations, government agencies, accounting and law firms, restaurants and hotels in an easy-to-use format.

Internet

Business Week Online.
http://www.business week.com.
–Contains articles and commentaries from the current newsstand edition of Business Week magazine. "Daily Briefing" section includes news flashes and links to recent events.

Inc. Online.
http://www.inc.com.
–Offers quick access to mini-sites, news of the day and other topics from Inc. magazine.

SBA Online. U.S. Small Business Administration.
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov.

–This electronic bulletin board provides needed resources to start and expand a business. Includes easy-to-use menus that help in accessing training, shareware applications to download, federal agencies and special interest groups.

Smart Business Supersite.
http://www.smartbiz.com.
–Provides an easy-to-use information springboard for the small business owner: 60 categories to search from job information to daily events and a people finder.

U.S. Commerce Department.
http://www.doc.gov/.
–This thorough and easy-to-navigate Web site provides current Department of Commerce information and links to several business-related government agency Web pages.

Organizations

National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE). (800) 232-NASE.
–Composed of 320,000 self-employed and small business people, this lobbying organization offers a wide variety of resource materials including its publication Self-Employed America, and provides a toll-free line called ShopTalk staffed by consultants who are available to address business-related concerns.

National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). (301) 608-2590.
–Helps to broaden opportunities for female entrepreneurs by offering workshops and seminars, providing information and referral services to its 6,000 members, and maintaining a databank of women-owned businesses.

National Business Association (NBA).(800) 465-0440.
–This nonprofit organization is designed to assist entrepreneurs attain professional and personal goals. It offers an array of benefits, services and other resources in the areas of business, lifestyle, health and education.

National Business League (NBL). (202) 737-4430.
–With 127 chapters nationwide, this federation has been working for nearly 100 years to promote minority business ownership.

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).(615) 872-5800.
–This is the nation’s largest small business lobbying organization, offering more than 600,000 members the chance to have their voices heard at all levels of government. Members also have access to a number of publications covering all aspects of entrepreneurship, including Independent Business magazine.

National Technology Transfer Center. (800) 678-6882.
http://www.nttc.edu.
–Provides seminars and training that focus on helping businesses and organizations adjust to the growing number of new technologies, while evaluating how to best use these technologies.

Service Corps of Retired Executives. 409 3rd Street SW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20024. (800) 634-0245.
http://www.score.org.
–389 chapters nationwide staffed by volunteer counselors are available to answer questions and give advice about small business planning strategies.

Small Business Advancement National Center. University of Central Arkansas, Box 5018, Conway, Arkansas 72035. (501) 450-5300, Fax: (501) 450-5360.
http://www.sbanet.uca.edu/.
–Puts several resources at the disposal of entrepreneurs and provides information on local and national training seminars. Contains hundreds of links to publications as well as software directly related to small business concerns.

Small Business Council of America. (301) 656-7603.
–Seeking to prevent federal tax laws from overburdening small business owners, this organization’s members work together to support legislation that creates important economic incentives.

Small Business Development Centers. 3108 Columbia Pike, Suite 300, Arlington, VA 22204. (703) 271-8700.
http://www.aspdc-us.org.
–More than 1,000 centers nationwide tailor training and counseling programs to small businesses. Offer complete resource libraries of licensing regulations, sales presentations, market share information and online databases.

Women at Work. 50 North Hill Avenue, Suite 300, Pasadena, CA 91106. (626) 796-6870.
womenatwork@earthlink.net.
–This career and job resource center provides thousands of job listings as well as career counseling services and classes for women.

Software

Proven Edge, Inc. (888) 8-PROVEN.
http://www.provenedge.com.
–Proven Edge, Inc. is a software designer and manufacturer that specifically serves the needs of small businesses. Proven Edge’s applications address all aspects of running a small business by providing owners with a single program to manage finances, customers, vendors, employees and schedules.