Friday, November 26, 2010

Best Free Small Business Resource Websites

As a small business owner, you are part of a growing sector of the economy. While the success rate of small business depends largely on who you ask as well as how well your business is designed, the simple fact is that we can all use a bit of help now and again. What follows is a listing of some of the more helpful free resources available for small business owners. From software to mentoring and advice, there are a number of resources available at no cost. If you are seeking help with your business, these websites may be able to help.

Score.org- This website offers free small business mentoring service. The site also offers podcasts, tips, toolkits, and many other tools to help your business thrive. From startup advice to disaster preparation and tools for designing a solid business plan, this website offers a vast amount of free and beneficial information for business owners.

SBA.gov- Set up and owned by the federal government, this site is dedicated to helping small business owners find success. From information on training to planning and marketing your business, this site offers a number of free articles, classes, and videos. There is also a great section of information that details the latest law changes and tax information for businesses.

OpenOffice.org- Created as an alternative to expensive spreadsheet and document programs, OpenOffice is actually quite valuable for small business owners. You can use this program to create checklists, order forms, inventory management documents, and much more. You can also set up multimedia presentations, write business letters, and manage your tax information with the same features and quality that you would find in more expensive programs.

Quickbooks - Quickbooks now offers a free version of their highly beneficial small business bookkeeping software. Quickbooks offers user-friendly software that allows you to track sales and expenses, create detailed invoices, manage customer and vendor databases, print business reports, and much more. The free software offers remarkable functionality and contains all of the features that are most important for business owners.

There are really a wide array of free resources out there for small business owners, and the catch it to find those that stand above the rest and don't have any hidden catches. These resources listed here offer excellent benefit for small business owners. Whether you are in need of information, classes, or powerful software, these links can help you find just what you are looking for.

1 comment:

  1. Another free resource is the Microsoft Small Business Center. You can find information on Business Plans, Marketing, Management, Finance and Technology. This link will give you more details: http://smb.ms/Outreach9HMNaE

    Regards,
    Jodi E.
    Microsoft SMB Outreach Team
    msftoft@microsoft.com

    ReplyDelete