Guides To Starting A Small Business

Inc.com offers a great set of resources in How To Start A Small Business Topics covered inclue:

Business Plan Building
Business Plan tips, how to write a business plan, get sample business plan templates, free business plan software, help and business plan advice for the small business entrepreneur.

Business Plans at Internet Speed
Writing a business plan faster, with online resources, free business plan software, and web-based advice for the small business entrepreneur.

Buying a Franchise
Buying your own franchise is one way to break into the entrepreneurial ranks and become your own boss. If you're considering a franchise, this collection of tools and tips will help you find the ideal business.

Cash Management Basics
Cash is your business's lifeblood. This guide will help your business -- and you -- avoid a heart attack.

Choosing a Form for Your Business
Trying to choose the right structure for your business? This Inc.com guide brings together our site's best articles on corporate form options, from sole proprietorships to C corporations.

Creating a Great Web Site on the Cheap
Want a terrific Web site -- without spending a fortune? Check out inc.com's guide to building a low-cost, high-impact Web site.

E-Commerce Starter Kit
The Internet will soon be the Grand Central Station of business, and getting a seat on the gravy train means implementing a smart e-commerce strategy now. We've got some basic ticketing instructions.

Hiring Your First Employee
Your business is growing so fast that soon you'll be not only your own boss, but someone else's as well. It's time to hire your first employee, and Inc.com has the help you need.

Patents
Got a great idea but not sure how to obtain a patent for it? This collection of tips and tools can help you get started.

Raising Start-Up Capital
Financing a new business isn't easy. Here Inc.com offers its best advice and resources for finding start-up capital.

Setting Up a Home Office
There are many practical, financial, and psychological benefits of working from home. Inc.com has brought home all our best articles and resources on setting up shop at home.

Setting Up a New Office
What's the biggest hurdle your new business faces? Perhaps it's setting up your first office. Our guide will take you through the process step-by-step.

Financing: Where to Find It
Where to find financing for your business.

Angel Investors
Court and win over angel investors with Inc.com's guide to angel investors.

Market Research
This Inc.com guide offers tips and resources to help you research your industry and competition, and meet your target market's needs.

Grassroots Marketing
Get inspired to fuel your company's growth with this collection of innovative marketing ploys.

Pricing
Inc.com will help you tackle the pricing issue -- we've compiled strategies, advice, and techniques that have served other entrepreneurs well.

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Privacy Rights Fact Sheets

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse website contains tons of useful information on privacy matters including Fact Sheets on the following topics:

1. Privacy Survival Guide
1(a). Privacy Basics and Opt-Out Strategies
2. Wireless Communications: Voice and Data Privacy
2(a). Hang Up on Harassment: Dealing with Cellular Phone Abuse
2(b). When a Cell Phone Is More than a Phone: Protecting Your Privacy in the Age of the Super-Phone
3. How to Put an End to Harassing Phone Calls
4. Junk Mail: How Did They All Get My Address?
4a. "Shine the Light" on Marketers: Find Out How They Know Your Name
5. Telemarketing: How to Have a Quiet Evening at Home

6. How Private Is My Credit Report?
6a. FACTA, the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act: Consumers Win Some, Lose Some
6b. The “Other” Consumer Reports: What You Should Know about “Specialty” Reports
6c. Your Credit Score: How It All Adds Up
7. Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace?
8. How Private Is My Medical Information?
8a. HIPAA Basics: Medical Privacy in the Electronic Age
9. Wiretapping and Eavesdropping: Is There Cause for Concern?
10. My Social Security Number: How Secure Is It?

11. From Cradle to Grave: Government Records and Your Privacy
12. A Checklist of Responsible Information-Handling Practices
14. Are You Being Stalked? Tips For Protection
14(a). Security Recommendation for Stalking Victims
15. Paying By Credit Card or Check: What Can Merchants Ask? (California Only)
15(a). Merchant Wallet Card (California Only)

16. Employment Background Checks: A Jobseeker's Guide
16(a). Employment Background Checks in California: New Focus on Accuracy
16(b). Employment Background Checks: A Guide for Small Business Owners
16(c). Background Checks for Volunteers: What are the Rules? (Coming Soon)
17. Coping with Identity Theft: Reducing the Risk of Fraud
17(a). Identity Theft: What to Do if It Happens to You
17(b). How to Deal with a Security Breach
17(g). Criminal Identity Theft
18. Privacy in Cyberspace: Rules of the Road for the Information Superhighway
19. Caller ID and My Privacy: What Do I Need to Know?
20. Anti-Spam Resources: Halting the Junk E-Mail Juggernaut

21. Children's Privacy and Safety on the Internet: A Resource Guide for Parents
22. Electricity and Your Privacy: Deregulation in California
23. Online Shopping Tips:E-Commerce and You
24. Protecting Financial Privacy in the New Millennium: The Burden Is on You
24(a). Financial Privacy
24(b). Take the Cloze Test: Readability of a Financial Privacy Policy
24(c). How to Shop for Financial Privacy
24(d). Frequently Asked Questions about Financial Privacy
24(e). Is Your Financial Information Safe?
25. Online Job Seeker Web Sites: Tips to Safeguard Your Privacy
25(a). Avoiding Online Job Scams: Critical Tips for Job Seekers

26. CLUE and You: How Insurers Size You Up
27. Debt Collection Practices: When Hardball Tactics Go Too Far
28. Online Privacy for Nonprofits: How to Protect Members' Privacy and Personal Information
29. Privacy in Education: Guide for Parents and Adult-Age Students
30. Check 21: Paperless Banking
31. Customer Identification Programs for Financial Transactions: Getting to Know You

Technorati Tags: privacy

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Entrepreneurship Tips, Tricks and Traps

Rule #1 - Fill an Unmet Need

Financial Fitness for Entrepreneurs

How to Start a Startup

Ten Survival Tips for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurial Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Seven Habits for Business Success

Where Entrepreneurs Err

Tips from Entrepreneur Yvonne DiVita

Adam's Advice for High Tech Startup Entrepeneurs

Ten Entrepreneurial Tips from Debby House

Starting a Business? Find a Soul Mate

Research, Research, Research Your Small Business Idea

The Entrepreneur as Pain Reliever

Avoid Key Startup Mistakes

Fatal Small Business Mistakes

Avoid Startup Funding Mistakes

Secrets of Startups that Stick

Envision Being Indispensable

Don't Make These Mistakes

Ten Start Up Business Success Factors

10 Avoidable Small Business Mistakes

Avoid New Business Pitfalls

Startup success recipe from Eric Hahn

5 Rules for Business Startups

Entrepreneurial Deathtraps

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Ten Tips from Entrepreneur Yvonne DiVita

From the fhe first installment of re:invention blog - 10 Tips for 10 Million Women TM Saturday Feature:

"Each weekend we will feature a woman entrepreneur and her personal 10 tips for success. We hope this feature will be a powerful example of "women helping women win." The women entrepreneurs you'll read about here will lead different types of companies and have different personal experiences. But they all have one thing in common: they are fearless women entrepreneurs who are willing to share specific, tangible ideas that you can put into practice today.

We're on a mission at re:invention to build more women-led million dollar businesses. We think 10 Tips for 10 Million Women is a unique way - not only to honor women - but to provide women with the practical business and marketing advice that is necessary to turn a dream into a profitable and actionable reality."

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Posts on Pitching to Investors

How to Negotiate a VC Term Sheet

Why VCs Might Pass on Your Deal

Startup Company Valuation Model

Key VC Investment Criteria

Mathematics of VC Deal Valuation

Ten Commandments for Entrepreneurs Pitching Investors

How Venture Capitalists Think

When and Why to Seek VC Money

Nail Your Idea in the First Paragraph

If Mere Mortals Can't Run It, Your Business is Not Scalable

On Cashing that VC Check

Ten Tips for Perfecting Your Elevator Pitch

When You Need Venture Capital, When You Don't

Develop a Strong Opening for Your Next Presentation

Venture Capitalists Don't Like Surprises

How VCs Evaluate Investment Opportunities

How Angels Evaluate Investment Opportunities

Write a Credible Investment Thesis

The Pros and Cons of a Corporate Investment

Giving VCs a Winning Pitch

VCs are from Mars, Entrepreneurs are from Venus

Lessons in Dealing with VCs

What VCs Say They Want

Know Your VC's Magic Numbers

Top Ten List on Pitching VCs

VCs are from No; Entrepreneurs are from Yes

Why VCs Often Say No to Inventors

How an Investor Views a Patent

Angel and Strategic Investors

Angels Do It Better

Categorizing Your Investors

Lessons in Dealing with VCs

Dealing with VCs (continued)

Fundraising? Observations from Recent Meetings

Tips for Approaching the Venture Capitalists

Three Key Startup Traits Attractive to VC's

How to Make a VC Presentation

Top 5 tips for closing a Series A financing

Top Seven Capital-Raising Mistakes

Two Perspectives on Pitching

Private Equity Glossary

VC's Look for Torchbearers

Top Nine Ways NOT to Raise Money from a VC:

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Patents, Inventors and Inventions

Video Introduction to the Patent System

5 Simple Steps to Protect a Patentable Idea

Before Filing a Software Patent Infringement Suit

How to Protect and Benefit From Your Ideas

PatentScope Portal Launched by WIPO

Patent Licence or Assignment: That is the Question

WIPO Publishes Patent Guide for Small Business

Do Patents Protect Small Companies?

Protecting Software End-Users Against Patent Infringement

Do Patents Protect Small Companies?

5 Steps for Commercializing an Invention

Tips on Managing a Patent Portfolio

Perils and Pitfalls of Provisional Patent Applications

Overview of the Software Patent Debate

Inventor's Handbook

Patent Trolling Convincingly Defended

Patent Application Monitoring Service

Now is the Time for the Entrepreneurial Inventor

Why VCs Often Say No to Inventors

Licensing as an IP Strategy

Defensive Publication as an IP Protection Strategy

The Importance of a Coordinated IP Strategy

The Power of "Patent Pending"

Patent Portfolios More Important than Individual Patents

Patenting as Easy as One, Two, Three

Inventors Need to be Flexible

Inventors Need Business Plans

Patent Searching Tips for Inventors

Where Do Patents Go When Inventors Die?

Inventors Need Business Plans

Five More Misconceptions About Patents

Unsolicited Invention Submissions

Top 10 Patent Myths

The Patent Picket Fence

Five Misconceptions About Patents

University Joint Patents With Industry Get More Protection

Lessons on Turning a New Invention Idea Into Money

Patent Tips Small Businesses

Patents Best for Detectible Software Elements

Explore Patent Litigation Alternatives

Patent Protection Strategy Benefits Start-Ups

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Ten Entrepreneurial Tips from Debby House

From the second installment of re:invention blog's 10 Tips for 10 Million WomenTM Saturday Feature, spotlighting woman entrepreneur, Debby House, Founder and CEO of The Adare Group (Chicago, IL), a strategy and profitability consulting firm comes these ten tips:

1. Solve your customer's critical problems...
2. Be externally focused...
3. Make quick, tough decisions...
4. Measure actions that generate profits...
5. Don't let the stock market run your company...
6. Innovate, Invest and Inquire
- Innovate: Creativity is cheaper in the long run than conformity
- Invest: It is risky but it generates long term profits
- Inquire: Curiosity produces innovation and reduces risk
7. Highly value customized products and services...
8. Only real profits pay the bills...
9. Don't let processes get in the way of profits...
10. Everyone must produce profits..."

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Top 5 tips for closing a Series A financing

This post by Andy Sack offers the following tips.

As you might expect, I am not sure I agree with number two. If you have a good attorney, he or she is your collaborator, not someone who needs to be managed. Otherwise, a good set of tips.

1) Get everyone to agree to a timeline, especially the venture partner and investor council. Send an email around and manage everyone to that timeline

2) Don't let the attorneys run the deal. There's a healthy balance that you need to strike in managing your attorney as well as investor counsel. On the one hand, you want to keep your eye on the closing of the financing and keep everyone moving forward expediently. On the other hand, you don't want to annoy or offend the attorneys -- they can make your life tough.

3) Stay in close communication with the lead vc partner -- in this case, I tried to talk with John Ludwig every day just to make sure he wasn't getting frustrated with the process.

4) Know when to give and when to hold-- in every deal I've done, you inevitably have to give on points that seem important but in retrospect aren't. If there's an easy point to give on -- do so. It'll build credibility and flexibility (hopefully)

5) Get it done -- the most important thing to remember is the deal isn't done till the money is in the bank.

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Free Business and Entrepreneurship College Courses

Through open courseware programs, you can access course materials from a wide range of top universities. Whether you decide to take these courses on your own time or just skim through the information, www.bschool.com compiled a list of 100 business and entrepreneurship courses you can take for free.

Here is a sampling of what is included in the list:

Accounting and Finance
These free courses can give you some tips on managing money and making sound investments in your business.

Introduction to Financial and Managerial Accounting: This course is designed to help business owners make investment decisions, access managerial performance and place a value on other firms and businesses...

Economics
Make sure you understand the larger factors that are at work in affecting your businesses profits and losses by educating yourself on economics through these classes.

Real Estate Economics: Whether you want to work directly in real estate or just need some information to help you make a better decision on purchasing office space, this course from MIT can provide instruction on real estate markets through a study of demographics, location, and government behavior....

Communication
Getting ahead in business without good communication skills can be hard, so give yours a boost with help from these top-tier courses.

No Sweat Speaking: Check out this short online seminar from Columbia University to help you overcome your fear or nervousness about public speaking. You’ll get access to a series of videos that can offer you some tips and pointers on feeling at ease in front of a group of coworkers, clients or anyone else...

Management
Management plays an essential role in keeping any business running smoothly. Ensure you and your employees are working to their full potential with some advice from these free courses.

Optimization Methods in Management Science: In this course, you’ll learn about the theory, algorithms, and applications of optimization to help you better control the logistics, manufacturing, transportation, marketing, project management, and financial issues of your business...

Leadership
These courses can help you be a better leader by teaching you important skills like working as a team, ethics, and how to work with a diverse group of people.

Cross-Cultural Leadership: This course explores what constitutes effective leadership across cultures. It can be especially valuable for business owners who are working in a global environment...

Marketing and Advertising
If you’ve got a product or service to sell, you need to get your name out there. These courses can give you some helpful ways to better market your business.

Brand Leadership/E-Seminar 1, Brand Identity and Strategy: Professor Bernd Schmitt of Columbia Business School explains the steps businesses must take when marketing themselves to develop a successful brand identity in this online seminar, using real companies to illustrate his points...

Product Development and Launch
These courses can give you some help on successfully developing new products and getting them out to your buyers.

Managing the Innovation Process: Get a handle on the research and development going on in your business through this course which analyzes the process through through five levels: individual, team, network, organizational, and industrial...

Technology
No business can run without technology these days, so ensure you have a handle on the IT technologies it takes to keep your business in good shape through these courses.

Practical Information Technology Management: If you feel you don’t have the background to make sound business decisions about IT, give this course a try. You’ll gain insight into how to implement, maintain and manage these systems to the benefit of your business...

Law
These courses can help you make sure you know the legal rights and regulations that apply to your business.

Law for the Entrepreneur and Manager: Through his course, you’ll gain a basic understanding of legal issues that corporations and businesses face when organizing, getting financing, protecting intellectual property, working internationally and more...

Field Specific
These courses cover a range of more specific business topics...

The Software Business: If you have an interest in starting a software company, this course can be a good place to get some introductory information...

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Tips for Entrepreneurs from Larry Page

In this Educators Corner video, Larry Page offers the following tips:

"Tip 1: Just don't settle. Especially with employees, it is very important to find great people you are compatible with.
Tip 2: There is a benefit from being real experts. Experience pays off.
Tip 3: Have a healthy disregard for the impossible. Stretch your goals.
Tip 4: It is OK to solve a hard problem. Solving hard problems is where you will get the big leverage.
Tip 5: Don't pay attention to the VC Bandwagon. Don't start a company just because you can, have a really good idea that is good regardless of the funding situation."

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Business Intelligence Lowdown: Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: 101 Common Sense Management Tips

Business Intelligence Lowdown: Lessons from the Lemonade Stand: 101 Common Sense Management Tips

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Year End Tax Planning Tips

This post from Fresh Inc. offers year end tax tips including:

"Pay off accounts...Make capital investments...Stock up on supplies...Distribute profits...Save for retirement...Make charitable donations...Get slow movers off your books...Adjust your estimated taxes..."

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Tips for that first VC Meeting

Ed Sim offers these tips for the first VC meeting:

"1. Be flexible...
2. Have a well-honed elevator pitch...
3. The Slide Deck: make it short and sweet, 15-20 slides will do...
4. Listen and ask questions: try to get feedback about your business and the opportunity...
4. The Demo...I like them live, but...there are 20 things that can happen in a demo, 19 of which can go wrong. So be prepared and have a cached version of your service to walk through.
5. Next steps: In any meeting, never forget to ask about the next steps...

A couple of other points to add:
Pre-meeting: Research the VC...

A couple of don'ts: don't be late, don't be arrogant, and don't ask for an NDA before you start the pitch."

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100 Tips to Improve Your Business

This excellent and comprehensive list of tips from Entrepreneur.com serves as a checklist with explanation for achieving your business (and life) goals. For example, consider the following excerpts:

"96. Revisiting Your Goals
The value of a goal lies in the way it provides you with a relatively steady, unwinking light toward which to steer in the fog of everyday business life. But that doesn't mean a goal should be as immovable as a lighthouse. You should periodically take a fresh look at your goals to see if they need to be changed or, perhaps, dumped. Changes in your personal situation, such as a desire to spend more time with your family, may cause some goals to become irrelevant to your true desires. Of course, the best reason to scrap a goal is because it's been accomplished....

97. Loosen Up!
If setting and achieving your goals isn't fun, then why bother?... And if you fail? Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and create a new goal...

99. Creating Targets Worth Reaching
When looking at new goals, make sure they have the following qualities:

Specificity. You stand a better chance of achieving a goal if it's specific. "Raising capital" isn't a specific goal; "raising $10,000 by July 1" is.

Optimism. Goals should be positive and uplifting...

Realism....Begin with small steps, such as increasing your monthly income by 25 percent. Once your first goal is met, you can reach for larger ones.

Thinking short- and long-term. Short-term goals are attainable in a period of weeks to a year. Long-term goals can be achieved five, 10 or even 20 years from now; they should be substantially greater than short-term goals but should still be realistic..."

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Small Business Hiring Tips

From this post from The Entrepreneurial Mind comes the following tips for hiring in a competitive labor market:

"1. Keep Staffing Forecasts Current...
2. Base Staffing Plans on Milestones, not on Time. Never tie your staffing plans to the calendar...
3. Measure Your Employment Triggers...
4. Never Just Hire Warm Bodies. Hiring someone just for the sake of hiring rarely works...
5. Keep Current on Wages and Salaries...
6. Don't Forget to "Close the Back Door". The single best staffing tool you have is retaining the good employees you have right now..."

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How to Start an eBay Business

"Step 1: Register your business...
Step 2: Find stuff to sell...
Step 3: Manage the auction process...
Step 4: Provide great customer service...
Step 5: Build a brand on eBay...

Legal and tax tips for eBay sellers

When you sell on eBay, you're subject to most all federal and state laws, taxes and rules that apply to retail businesses generally. Here are some tips to help you stay out of trouble on eBay:

1. Set yourself up as a legal business. Get federal and state tax ID numbers for your business, as well as any licenses and permits your state requires for you to sell your merchandise. If you're using a trade name, register it with your city, town or county clerk's office as your state law requires.

2. Register for your state's sales taxes. If the winning bidder is a resident of your state, you'll have to pay sales tax on the bid amount. Put the following statement on all eBay auction pages: "Residents of State X [your state] must add ___% sales tax to their winning bid."

3. Sell only legitimate merchandise...

4. Resist the temptation to "shill." If you (or a friend or relative) are ever tempted to bid against legitimate bidders in an attempt to drive up the price of your products (an illegal practice called "shilling"), think twice. Not only will eBay's fraud department shut you down permanently if they catch you, but many state attorneys general are bringing criminal charges against flagrant offenders, with eBay's cooperation."

Read more in this msn.com article found via this Small Business Brief post.

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Women Entrepreneurs Can Promote Their Companies and Encourage Others by Sharing Lessons Learned

The re:invention blog - for women entrepreneurs is starting a new weekly feature stating:

"This is a chance for the nation's 10.6 million women entrepreneurs to get free publicity and exposure for their business. The new feature, 10 Tips for 10 Million WomenTM will appear each Saturday.

We'll share background about your company and a link to your company website along with your personal top 10 success strategies tips; the top 10 things you have learned while building your business."

Great Idea.

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Tips for Preventing Identity Theft

This post from May it Please the Court contains practical tips to use in an effort to avoid becoming one of the possibly 110,000 people who have become vicitims of identity theft.

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Top Ten Do's and Don'ts of IP Licensing

This article from Mondaq (free subscription required) offers ten do's and don't for IP licensing, stating:

"To create effective licenses for both licensors and licensees, it is important to have an understanding of the common legal and business issues that arise in negotiating licenses by following these "Top 10" tips. Software, Web sites, e-commerce transactions and information technology generally can involve many different forms of intellectual property (IP). On a Web site, for example, copyrights can exist in software, content, multimedia and databases. Patent rights may exist in processes used in software, Web sites and e-commerce. And, trade-mark rights may exist in software product names, domain names, hyperlinks that reflect business or product names, logos, word designs or even sounds used to distinguish goods or services."

The tips are:

1. Do Your Due Diligence
2. Don’t Take "Who" & "What" in a License Grant for Granted
3. Do Know the Difference Between Sole, Exclusive & Non-Exclusive
4. Do Sweat the Small Stuff in License Grants
5. Don’t Blindly Agree to Restrictions on Licensing
6. Do Beware of Representations & Warranties
7. Do Structure Compensation Strategically
8. Do Consider Bankruptcy & Insolvency
9. Don’t Underestimate the Term & Termination
10. Be Choosy About Choice of Law

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Tips for Dealing with a Business Broker

This article from StartupJournal observes and advises:

"Competition to buy small or midsize businesses is getting stiffer. More buyers -- those who have been downsized, taken early retirements or just taken all they can of working for someone else -- are chasing a finite number of deals.
One way to cut through some of the clutter is to turn to a business broker -- a person specializing in putting business buyers and sellers together...

What can eager buyers do to make sure they'll be first in line when a broker comes across their dream business opportunity? Consider the following tips to attract, and keep, a business broker's attention:

Talk to as many brokers as possible...
Give them more than they ask for...
Show you are financially qualified to purchase a business...
Disclose up front how much money you expect to make to maintain your lifestyle...
Be flexible about location...
Drop your preconceptions...
Persistence counts...
Be prepared to act quickly...
Don't listen to naysayers... "

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