Business Resources
FREE Business Plan Templates from SCORE.org
FREE Business plan for startups template
Financial projections template
Startup expenses template
Annual marketing budget template
Business loan estimator tool
The SCORE Startup Roadmap
Startup Resources From the US Gov.
American FactFinder: Census information on the demographics of your community including population, housing and the economy
Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps): A database of federal government contracting opportunities
IRS Small Business Portal: Answers to small business tax questions, plus access to forms and publications, a video library, an event calendar and other online tools and products
Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA): Supports businesses in minority communities by providing grant and loan information, business opportunities and business certification resources
National Association for the Self-Employed: Nonprofit membership association representing the small business community in Washington, DC
National Business Association: Nonprofit association that assists the self-employed and small business community in achieving their professional goals.
National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB): Nonprofit association representing small and independent businesses
National Women’s Business Council (NWBC): Provides independent advice and policy recommendations to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues important to female business owners
SCORE: SCORE, “the nation’s largest network of volunteer business experts,” is an SBA resource partner, dedicated to entrepreneur education. SCORE has over 10,000 volunteers in 300 chapters with years of business experience available to help small business owners through one-on-one counseling, business tools and training programs
Small Business Administration (SBA): District offices in all 50 states provide resources, training and specialists to help start and grow businesses, plus hundreds of online resources for small business owners and employees.
Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs): Resources vary by location, but typically include things like assistance with business planning, access to financing, counseling services and classes
Small Business Legislative Council: A coalition of trade and professional associations
Social Security Online: Home to multiple social security resources for small businesses and employees
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Nation: The Chamber’s website has resources, toolkits on a variety of business topics and information on how you can get your voice heard in Washington, DC.
U.S. Department of Commerce Department: Comprised of 12 different agencies, this Department promotes job creation and economic growth and works to strengthen America’s position in the global marketplace
U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics: Information on U.S. working conditions, labor market activity, and price changes in the economy
U.S. Export Assistance Center (USEACs) Export.gov offers information about export assistance programs and services.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Grants U.S. patents and registers trademarks
Veteran-owned businesses (SBA resources): Funding programs, training, and federal contracting opportunities for veteran entrepreneurs
Women’s Business Centers (WBCs): Education centers for women business owners across the U.S. along with online resources
Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC): Provides assistance and education to certified women’s business enterprises (WBEs) and government entities
Small Business Websites
AllBusiness: “Your small business advantage”
Annuity.org : Financial Literacy for Business Investing
Noobpreneur: “Helping small business owners grow their business by tapping into the small business trends and industry insights shared by fellow small business owners, experts and professionals.”
SmallBizDaily: “Ideas, Insights, Information and Inspiration for Entrepreneurs”
Small Biz Survival: “The small town and rural business resource.”
Small Business Bonfire: “Social, educational and collaborative community for entrepreneurs…”
Small Business Today: “Your guide to ‘Big’ Business Achievement”
Smart Hustle: “Events and content to educate business owners in how to grow their businesses!”
Startup Nation: “Everything you need to build your business”
Succeed As Your Own Boss: Run by Melinda F. Emerson, America’s #1 Small Business Expert
The Self Employed: “Your Gig Just Got Easier”
Venturebeat: “Tech news that matters”
Wall Street Journal: Small Business: World business news
Women on Business: “Award-winning online destination for the news and information women need to be successful in the business world…”
Legal Information and Documents
Find Law: Search forms by category and access combo packages
Incorporate.com: Incorporate your business online and learn about your incorporation options
LegalZoom: Legal advice, business services, trademarks & IP
Nolo: Connect with attorneys, research with their legal encyclopedia, and download helpful software and resources
RocketLawyer: Search for documents and business legal advice and get advice from attorneys
US Legal Forms: Search forms by category to find what you need
Franchising
Franchise Business Network: Network of franchise business owners across the U.S. who meet quarterly
Franchising.com: Their search tool allows you to find franchises in the U.S. and Canada; their site also offers articles and lists of relevant conferences
Franchising USA: Monthly digital publications with the latest in franchising news, advice and information
FranChoice: Franchise consulting services
FranNet: Franchise experts, consultants and brokers for finding your next franchise opportunity
The Franchise King: Website and blog managed by franchise expert, Joel Libava, filled with resources and insights on the franchise experience
International Franchise Association (IFA): Search for franchise opportunities across the globe
Small Business Magazines
Bloomberg BusinessWeek: Online and print magazine bringing news and business together
Entrepreneur: Online and print magazine with insights from entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial experts around the world
Fast Company: Online and print magazine focused on innovation in technology, leadership, creativity and design
Forbes: Online and print magazine covering all things business from experts and leaders around the world
Inc.: The “most trusted name in entrepreneurial journalism” guiding founders, innovators and influencers to propel their businesses forward – online and print magazine
Small Business Trends: Online and print magazine covering all aspects of small business ownership
Success Magazine: Online and print magazine that provides advice on best business practices, inspiration, and motivation
TradePub: Find magazines for your specific industry
Wired: Online and print magazine focused on the people and ideas that are changing the world
YFS Magazine: Online magazine providing insights, analysis and opinions from global, high-performing entrepreneurs
Invoice Generation
Invoice to me: Free Invoice Generator.
Free Invoice Generator: Alternative free invoice generator.
Slimvoice: Insanely simple invoices.
Wave: Free & easy accounting, invoicing and more.
Invoice.to: Free invoice generator.
Idea Management
Experiment Board: Test your startup idea without wasting time or money.
Germ.io: Get from idea to execution.
Skitch: Your ideas become reality faster.
Business & Project Name Generators
The Name App: Find an available name for your brilliant idea.
Naminum: Discover a perfect company name.
Short Domain Search: Find short, available single-word domain names.
Wordoid: Pick a short and catchy name for your business.
Hipster Business Name: Hipster business name generator.
Impossibility: The best domain name generator ever.
Lean Domain Search: Find a domain name for your website in seconds.
Domainr: Fast, free, domain name search, short URLs.
Guides & Courses
Primer: No-nonsense, jargon-free marketing lessons (by Google).
KeepYourFriendsClose: A free e-book about maximizing Customer Lifetime Value.
Pricing Course: A free 9-day course on charging what you’re worth.
Email Course for Sponsorships: How to get sponsorships for anything.
Startup Sales Course: A free course to help you become a better marketer.
Build an online course: A free course to help you build an online course.
MailCharts: A FREE email course to help you become a better marketer.
FirstSiteGuide: The beginner’s guide to successful blogging.
Email Management
Contact form 7: Famous WordPress plugin to collect email addresses.
Mailchimp: Send 12,000 emails to 2,000 subscribers for free.
ManyContactsBar: Free contact form sits on top of your website.
Hello Bar: Get more email subscribers.
Sumome List Builder: Collect email addresses with light box popover.
Scroll Triggered Box: Boost your conversion rates — WordPress only.
Sumome Scroll Box: Capture more email addresses, politely.
Mandrill: The fastest way to deliver email. Free 12K emails/month.
Mailgun: The Email Service For Developers. Free 10K emails/month.
Sendgrid: Delivers your transactional and marketing email. Free 12K emails/month.
Sendinblue: Free 9K emails/month.
Mailtrack: The best free email tracking solution.
Beefree: Free Email editor to build responsive design messages.
Canned Emails: A minimal site with prewritten emails.
Steak — Track if someone opened your emails. Especially useful if you’re doing sales or outreach. Also adds a CRM to Gmail.
Really Good Emails — Superb for designed email inspiration. Welcome emails, sales emails, the whole works.
Gmass — Send mass emails in Gmail (up to 2000 emails/day). Gmail = way better deliverability than using an email marketing platform. Link it to a spreadsheet to personalize names and phrases for every contact.
Art of Emails — Tons of actually unique email templates for cold emails, outreach to influencers, sales follow ups, etc.
Social Media & Community Management
WriteRack: The best way to tweetstorm.
Spruce: Make Twitter ready images in seconds.
Click To Tweet: Get more shares on your content.
MyTweetLinks: Increases Twitter traffic.
Latergram: Easily plan & schedule your Instagram posts.
WordPress Pin it Button for Images: Add a “Pin It” button.
SharedCount: Track URL shares, likes, tweets, and more.
How Many Shares Count how many shares a URL has across most social networks, all in one place.
Justunfollow: Follow / unfollow people on Twitter & Instagram.
SocialRank: Identify, organize, and manage your followers on Twitter.
Klout: Social media influence score on browser extension.
Ritetag: Instant hashtag analysis.
Social Analytics: Interactions for a URL on most social platforms.
Buffer Free Plan: Schedule posts to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+.
Bitly: Create, share, and track shortened links.
Filament: A free beautiful and customizable sharing bar.
Addthis: Get more shares, follows and conversions.
Sumome Share: Auto-optimizes your share buttons for max traffic.
Digg Digg: Your all in one share buttons plugin.
Disqus: Build a community of active readers & commenters.
App Review Monitor: App reviews delivered to Slack and your inbox.
Presskit Generator: Generate a Press Kit for your iOS App for free.
Free Survey Creator: Create a survey. Get user feedback for free.
