The United States Small Business Administration (SBA), www.sba.gov, provides a breadth of financial and business resources to help you start and grow your business. They also provide a series of web courses to help you along the way. Content includes essential basics like writing a business plan, “how to start a business on a shoestring budget”, accounting 101, cash flow, funding options, taxes, and more. Workshops are also offered on marketing, email marketing, assessing your market, and export opportunities to name a few.

The SBA also provides loans for small businesses and 8a minority firms. It also sequesters various government contracts so that they will only be offered to small businesses. They even have training on how to qualify for 8a status and the best way to compete for those contracts.

The SBA also has affiliate programs in colleges and universities around the country called Small Business Development Centers (SBDC). Students and professors provide free consulting services to local small businesses and entrepreneurs as part of their coursework. This is often a great learning experience for both sides. An interesting resource is the SBDCs’ website at www.sbdcnet.org. You don’t have to be in the program to access it either. They have blogs, FAQs, studies, resources and research on things such as consumer trends by geographic breakdown. There is a wealth of information on business topics and industries at your fingertips. This is worth investigating.

You can put these resources to work for you from day one. It’s a good idea to study these public – and free — sources before you consult a paid expert. If you do your homework in advance, you will be able to have the paid professional focus on specific strategic issues that pertain to your business and not business, marketing, or accounting 101.