Knowing the requirements to run a business
Starting your own business is a very daunting challenge, but there are many resources available to help you learn the basics of business.
If you are new to business, I recommend beginning with your local Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE) chapter: http://www.score.org/
SCORE’s services are entirely free.
SCORE can provide the basic information around the nuts-and-bolts of starting a business.
Beyond SCORE, your local public library has book, magazines, videos and audio recordings that address business topics.
There are a wide variety of online resources related to business, including:
National:
- U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) http://www.sba.gov/
- U.S. Government small business resources http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/content/0,,id=98864,00.html
State: (Each state has specific resources to support the creation of businesses. You can find your state’s resources with a Google search. These example links are from Florida):
- Florida Small Business http://www.floridatrend.com/small_biz.asp
- List of Florida business startup resources: http://www.eflorida.com/Why_Florida.aspx?id=8920
- Enterprise Florida http://www.eflorida.com/
- Florida Small Business Resource Network http://www.sbrn.org/
Associations:
- National Federation of Independent Businesses http://www.nfib.com/
- National Small Business Association: http://www.nsba.biz/
- National Business Association http://www.nationalbusiness.org/
Media:
- Entrepreneur Magazine http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/index.html
- Inc. Magazine http://www.inc.com/
- Fast Company http://www.fastcompany.com/
- Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/home-page
All of these resources can help you understand the challenges, opportunities and requirements of running your own business.
At a minimum, a business requires:
- Resources (people, money, energy, time, etc.)
- Products and/or services
- Customers
- Marketing (to create the perception of need in your customers)
- Sales (the ability to conduct an economic transaction, including banking, operational systems, etc.)
Starting and running a business is a very large undertaking and not for the faint of heart, but managing your own business can also provide rewards unavailable anywhere else.
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Please note that the links and listings above are not an endorsement or guarantee of any level of service or quality of any company or organization referenced.
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