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Other Online Resources
25 September 2009
Western North Carolina SCORE Counselors have put together a list of site which we hope you will find helpful in researching aspects of your business.
General Sites
http://www.score.org/business_toolbox.html - small business tools, templates and links to other resources.
http://sbc.blueridge.edu/ - This website and the main site has many listings of courses and links for small businesses available at both campuses at Flat Rock and Brevard. For more information contact Gary Heisey at 828-694-1766 or call 828-694-1766 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it at the Small Business Center.
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College recognizes the vital role of small business entrepreneurs in our economy and has a video called Strive & Thrive. The link is http://www.abtech.edu/sbc/services.asp
This SBA link, co-sponsored by the U.S. Postal Service, contains brief videos of entrepreneurs sharing their tips; to the right of each video icon is a set of subject areas (e.g., "Small Business Planner"). These are links to free, online courses as well that have accompanying audio: http://www.sba.gov/tools/audiovideo/deliveringsuccess/index.html
This SBA link has a mostly complete library of various online courses, including those mentioned above: http://www.sba.gov/services/training/onlinecourses/index.html
New SBA courses can be found here: http://www.sba.gov/services/training/newcourses/index.html
The Small Business Administration has prepared a series of SBA's free podcasts on various topics: http://www.sba.gov/tools/audiovideo/Podcasts/index.html
http://www.transylvania.lib.nc.us/mainpage.htm - The Transylvania County Library web page as useful links to many government and other sources of information for small businesses. In addition the library has a special program that allows entrepreneurs to search for grants from private foundations. Contact the library at 828-884-3151 or email Lisa Sheffield at
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for more details using their computer facilities to search for grants for for-profit businesses.
http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/index.html/ - general resource for starting and managing businesses; links to advice, tool and templates.
http://www.sba.gov/localresources/district/nc/index.html - this is the SBA’s regional web page with a lot of information relevant to North Carolina business owners and startup businesses.
http://online.wsj.com/small-business - a wide range of helpful articles, blogs and discussions on all topics for the small business.
http://www.inc.com/ - from the Inc. Magazine publishers; articles, blogs and links to a variety of small business topics.
http://www.mbemag.com/ - resources for minority and women entrepreneurs; from the publishers of Minority Business Entrepreneur Magazine
http://www.bplans.com/ - Good basic articles on writing business plans, and some general small business advice. “Expert advice” section often relates to using the business plan software sold through the site.
http://www.toolkit.com/small_business_guide/ - small business tools and brief articles; must join (free) to download toolkits.
http://www.ladieswholaunch.com/ - a good resource, especially for our women entrepreneurs who are seeking a community of supportive and smart like-minded women.
http://www.sbtv.com/ - the new internet television channel for small businesses with a wide range of topics for all entrepreneurs.
http://www.kiplinger.com/business/smallbusiness/ - A wide variety of current articles on all aspects of small business operations including helpful tax hints and legal advice.
http://www.frannet.com/ - This web site offers a free guide to all types of available franchise businesses.
Lending
http://www.lend.net/ - “The lending club is a worldwide Broker specializing in arranging long term commercial real estate loans.”
http://www.sba.gov/services/financialassistance/index.html - sources and descriptions of small business loans.
Legal and Taxes
http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com - legal issues in business, written understandably
http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/corporations/ - NC Secretary of State website; search existing corporations, download incorporation forms and view North Carolina legal guidelines for corporations. Their toll free number is 888-246-7636. Use the telephone number to get a form to reserve the name of your company with the Secretary of State’s office.
http://www.nccommerce.com/en/BusinessServices/ - The NC Department of Commerce has useful links for entrepreneurs such as for copyrights and patents. This web page also has useful information on types of legal structure for businesses. Their toll free number is 800-228-8443.
http://www.dor.state.nc.us/business/index.html - The NC Department of Revenue website has extensive information about sales tax law changes and state/county rate schedules. This is an important page to look at frequently because sales tax rates change frequently such as for “tax holidays” etc., You can download forms for Sales Tax Registration Numbers as well as coupons for filing your sales tax payments. In addition, this website contains instructions and forms for filing individual and business tax forms. Their toll free number is 877-252-3052.
http://www.ncbar.org/ncleap/ –NC Bar Association’s NC LEAP project (North Carolina Lawyers for Entrepreneurs Assistance Project) and their volunteer attorneys offer a full range of civil and transactional legal services to low-wealth entrepreneurs including legal counsel and advice. This link takes you to a download of their PDF file describing these services. Their toll free number is 800-662-7407.
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/screen75.asp/ - gives an overview of the types of jobs that are exempt from overtime requirements.
http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17a_overview.pdf/ - fact sheet with discussion of Professional, Administrative and Executive Exemptions, with links to more specific information on each exemption.
http://www.irs.gov/ - Type in search for such issues as “independent contractors or employees and also see many helpful booklets on small business accounting and other issues.
http://www.uspto.gov/ - The best site for trademark information.
Marketing, Public Relations and Internet Selling
www.prweb.com – “PRWeb, a leader in online news and press release distribution, has been used by more than 40,000 organizations of all sizes to increase the visibility of their news, improve their search engine rankings and drive traffic to their Web site.”
http://www.i-soldit.com/index.asp/ - “iSoldIt” is a nationwide chain of drop off stores that makes it easy for anyone to sell their things online.
http://www.google.com/analytics/ - Google Analytics makes it easy to improve your results online. Write better ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives, and create higher-converting websites. Google Analytics is free to all advertisers, publishers, and site owners. A similar site, Google Webmaster also gives hints on setting up a optimizing your business web page.
http://www.alivepos.com/ - This is a site that helps small businesses register a domain name and develop a website
http://www.micromentor.org/about.html - MicroMentor connects low-income business owners - called "microentrepreneurs" - to individuals who have successfully navigated business ownership or management in the same industry. Although there are some existing mentoring opportunities available to business owners, MicroMentor is the only one that utilizes technology to pair two people in the same industry.
Disclaimer: This list is only a partial listing of suitable web sites for small businesses. This list does not constitute an endorsement. We welcome suitable additions to this list as well as any feedback from clients who use these web sites.
