Free Start Up Help for a Small Business
- Local charities sometimes offer grants to help local business owners get started. Competition can be fierce, though, so you shouldn't count on this as a guaranteed source of funding. Instead, talk to a bank's business accounts specialist to learn your options for funding your business. Although you have to pay the money back, it's free or inexpensive to get a loan to start your business and the Small Business Administration (SBA) backs loans from the bank.
- It's common to hit a road block during the startup phase. You can talk to an expert in your field for free through the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE). These retired executives have business experience in a wide range of areas and provide it to other business owners for free. You can find someone to help you with general advice or specific issues. In many cases, you can find someone who worked in your specific industry.
- One of the most difficult challenges when getting started is learning all of the details that pertain to your specific type of business. For example, the process of starting a consulting business from home is much different than starting a retail store. Look for a guide that tells you specifically how to start the kind of business that you want to start. Entrepreneur Magazine offers several industry-specific guides that can help.
- Some Chamber of Commerce groups charge a yearly membership fee, but many are free or offer free business seminars in areas like marketing and customer retention. This allows you to learn new techniques and to meet other business owners in your area for networking.
- Getting the right legal help can make your business more secure. A lawyer should offer a free initial consultation and you can then decide whether he or she is the right lawyer for you. Look for a lawyer that charges you on an as-needed basis rather than one who requires a monthly retainer and you'll only have to pay for the time that you use.
