Resources for Creating Your Own Small Business - What You Can Find in Your Library and Online

This article is about the resources that a perspective small business owner needs to be aware of prior to starting, or even planning, to go into business. As a library worker in a developing area, I get questions relating to this subject all of the time. The first step for any prospective small business creator is to become familiar with the free services and information that is out there begging to be used. Largely, this free information comes from two places: your local library and the internet.

With the passage of the freedom of information act, our government has been dramatically converting governmental publications from print to online formats. Enormous amounts of information - from marketing research to demographic statistics - can be garnered from governmental sources. Some examples of websites to highlight include your State's department of economic development, the small business administration (http://www.sba.gov), the bureau of labor statistics (http://www.bls.gov), and the government's official web portal (http://www.usa.gov). Depending on where you live, you will also want to do simple web searches for local governmental organizations and non-profits that encourage small business growth. In the Kansas City, Missouri area, for example, entrepreneurs need to be familiar with the Kaufmann organization (http://www.kauffman.org/) which provides assistance, research, grants, and education for small business start-ups.

Equally valuable to the internet are libraries. Librarians all over the country seek to make this kind of information available for easy consumption and use. Many libraries do not even require that the user have a library card to use their web-based resources. Two libraries in particular stand out. The Multnomah County library in Oregon (http://www.multcolib.org/biz/) and the White Plains library in New York (http://wppl.lib.ny.us/collections/cbjn/index.shtml). These websites have conveniently organized, easily accessible, and extraordinarily valuable information available for public use. Both sites provide sample business plans, legal information, financing ideas, market research, and consumer information. Theoretically, one could begin and finish the planning stage solely online.

For those of us who may be a little bit more comfortable with the information in our hands though, a trip down to the local public library may be in order. Nearly all public libraries use the Dewey Decimal system of organization today - a system based on numbers of 0 to 1000, where each number is related to a specific topic. The numbers relating to small business creation are 346 and 658. Chances are if you go browse around these numbers in your local library, you'll be surprised by the amount of information that is available to you. Best of luck to any and all enterprising entrepreneurs out there!