Resources for Women Entrepreneurs

The AMA provides info, seminars and e-learning courses on business management topics. At the top of the home page, AMA features an article on a current business issue or topic.

AEO offers training and technical assistance, micro-loans, access to market services, and economic literacy & asset development services.

The mission of the Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE) is to advance knowledge & foster  entrepreneurship education and research.

Count Me In promotes economic independence and the growth of women owned businesses. Their Make Mine a Million program provides support for women entrepreneurs seeking to grow micro businesses to million dollar enterprises. Count Me In is a SCORE sponsor.

The Edward Lowe Foundation helps emerging businesses and 2nd business owners.

eVenturing, run by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, offers  useful info and columns for entrepreneurs.

NASE is a Web resource for self-employed and micro-businesses.

NBA offers up-to-date and informed on important issues impacting the self-employed and small business community.

NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group that represents the consensus views of its 600,000 members in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals.

PERI is a nonprofit that offers risk-management resources Look for their Risk Management for Small Business publication and their Workplace Safety Kit.

The Retailer Owners Institute is dedicated to improving the financial professionalism of independent retailers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Center provides small business news and practical resources. This is the largest membership organization of chambers in the country.

National business membership organization for Hispanic entrepreneurs with a variety of how to info, conferences and a membership spanning the nation.

Winning Workplaces is a nonprofit that provides small and midsize employers with proven, practical tools and articles to help entrepreneurs improve their workplace practices.

AllBusiness.com is a Web portal for small and growing businesses, with how-to articles, forms, agreements and Q&A. 

This business selling and buying blog gives tips on how to buy and sell a business and lists popular types of opportunities.

BizMiner provides business planning and research services and includes a section on free resources to help understand industry trends.

BizPlanit is a business plan consulting firm. The site offers an extensive collection of free business plan resources.

Business stats such as: financial ratios and operating ratios, turnover, profitability for sole proprietorships, employee productivity, industry averages and benchmarking tools.

The BizToolkit, offered by the JJ Hill Reference Library, is a portal of tools and resources including sample business plans and financial calculators.

This business planning Web site provides samples business plans and tips on writing effective business plans.

Business Know-How provides how-to articles, newsletters, tips, tools & resources to help you manage and grow profitably.

BUZGate is a searchable portal to help you find & access small biz resources.

CCH provides a business owner toolkit to answer business, tax and legal questions.

This site has a collection of resources for planning your business, documenting your plan and evaluating your strategy.

The goal of the Center is to stimulate and support  entrepreneurship in communities throughout rural America.

E-Myth Worldwide’s inspirational online Community provides practical info and business training for business owners & entrepreneurs. Connect with peers to share best practices and lessons learned on launching and growing a world-class business.

This site was created to help small business owners solve their problems, while having fun too.

MergerPlace.com connects business sellers with business buyers.

This site for microenterprises features microenterprise programs, technical assistance and grant and loan information.

MyNewCompany.com provides small business start-up information and resources.

My Own Business provides an online, 11-session course that teaches the basic do's and don’ts for entrepreneurs.

MyStrategicPlan.com provides free resources to help create business and strategic plans, mission statements and more.

National Dialogue on Entrepreneurship (NDE) helps improve awareness of the value of entrepreneurship through informing and engaging national, regional and local policymakers. NDE produces a weekly newsletter on various trends driving the innovation economy.

Features business management software and templates related to financial projection, cashflow forecasting, marketing, strategic planning and more.

The Small Business Dictionary gives definitions to 2,500 of the most commonly used small business terms.

This Web site features information on how to start a business.

This site provides a toolbox to entrepreneurs with the tools and assistance necessary to help organized their ventures from idea to IPO.

Strategy Business Plans offers business plan solutions that result in funding and growth for businesses.

The Veterans Corporation hosts a business portal for current and prospective Veteran business owners and for companies working with Veteran-owned businesses.

USABizMart lists thousands of business opportunities, franchises and small businesses for sale throughout the United States. It includes resources, articles, blog and weekly online webinars through the Business for Sale Online Academy.

VendorSeek.com connects business consumers with pre-qualified vendors. This process enables business consumers to locate the right vendor to fill their needs and allows vendors to identify customers who are seeking the very services they provide.

This site gives resources and information to help you start, run and grow your small business.

This site helps business owners solve management problems with a wide variety of helpful guides on every aspect of business maintenance.

Working Solo provides tips and info for the solo entrepreneur.

This database contains more than 35,000 tax and accounting professionals from across the United States.

Angel Investor News provides entrepreneurs and investors with information about private investment, technology trends and financing trends.

Axiom Valuation Solutions provides independent, reliable information on what a business is worth. This site offers as a free resource IRS business activity search engine and valuation library for business owners.

This site provides a free, click online seminar and booklet download on the importance of business credit.

Businessfinance offers free business funding resources and has a database of over 4,000 sources of business capital.

BIZBUYFinancing offers tips, articles, webinars & a blog on small business purchase financing through SBA loans and commercial financing.

Corporate Turnaround, formally Commercial Credit Counseling (CCC), restructures debt in order to save companies from bankruptcy.

Credent Trust provides information and resources to assist small businesses in obtaining loans, equipment leases and insurance.

FINRA, through the consolidation of NASD and the New York Stock Exchange, is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation, policy and dispute resolution.

Free and confidential analysis tool for you to evaluate Key Performance Indicators.

Integra Information provides entrepreneurs with financial industry data for more than 900 industries.

Intuit Inc. is a leading provider of business and financial management solutions for small and mid-sized businesses, consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services, including QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax® software, simplify small business management and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing.

MyBizHomepage provides free, easy-to-use financial analytics and other information to help small and emerging businesses run more smoothly and profitably.

NVCA represents America’s venture capital community. This site contains data on venture capital investments.

NCEO is a private, nonprofit membership and research organization that serves as the leading source of information on employee stock ownership plans.

Peachtree offers resources for accounting solutions to the small business marketplace.

Strong Business Credit provides information for business owners on how to build their business credit.

The AAFD is a national nonprofit trade association representing the rights and interests of franchisees and independent dealers throughout the United States. AAFD’s Web site lists accredited franchisors and has a section on buying a franchise.

Bizquest's business-resale listings. The site lists opportunities in 13 franchise industries.

The Business Market has free information on hundreds of franchise opportunities for sale. Use the powerful search tools to find the ideal franchise for you.

The FTC has an online section on franchises and business opportunities. Look for franchise and business opportunity FAQs, business opportunity fraud alerts, federal and state business opportunity rights and laws and information on the FTC Franchise Rule.

Franchise Gator, a franchise web resource, links people with franchise opportunities through franchise and business for sale listings and an eNewsletter with the latest franchising news.

The Franchise Handbook is a quarterly publication offering franchise opportunities.

FranchiseSolutions allows you to identify franchises that best meet your criteria and then assists you through the due diligence process.

Search FranchiseWorks.com for free franchise information, including a directory of hundreds of franchise opportunities, business opportunities and home based businesses.

FranChoice calls itself the "franchise information company" and helps entrepreneurs find the right franchising opportunity based on their goals and preferences.

FranNet's franchise consultants help with all phases of franchising, from development to prospect acquisition.

IFA is a membership organization of franchisors, franchisees and suppliers.  IFA also offers a free course on Franchising Basics.

Minority Franchising lists companies most committed to reaching out to and supporting minority franchisees.

PRG's Web site lists franchising opportunities, resources and news.

The official resource to help businesses quickly find compliance information, forms and contacts from multiple U.S. government Web sites.

The Department of Homeland Security's Web site includes information to small businesses about potential business opportunities and keeping employees safe in the event of a terror attack.

This site lists statistics from more than 100 government agencies, useful when conducting market research.

Fedmarket.com is an online community for government buyers and vendors. It is a top government contracting resource for public and private organizations.

American Express and WIPP team up to deliver education and tools to help women entrepreneurs secure government contracts.

FirstGov is online collection of federal, local and tribal governments, information, services and resources.

The IRS Web site offers a broad range of products, services and resources to educate and assist small business owners and self-employed professionals.

A wealth of immigration-related employment discrimination information can be found on this Web site.

This site allows employers to process their W-2s for their employees. The process requires no special software.

The online CFDA gives access to a database of all federal assistance programs.

Department of Commerce offers info on foreign markets and international trade. Commerce also monitors and enforces compliance with U.S. trade laws and agreements.

BLS is an agency for the Federal Government that produces labor economic data and statistics.

This site contains everything you need to know about patents and trademarks.

The SBA provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their businesses.

This site provides consumer guides for getting and keeping health insurance in each state.

HRTools.com is designed to bring relevant, practical information to small business owners to help them deal with day-to-day human resources responsibilities.

PAQ offers a free dictionary of occupational titles that includes information for more than 12,000 job descriptions.

Salary.com provides online compensation information and data for most industries. See special section for small business.

SHRM provides practical, time-saving resources and tools on HR topics. SHRM members can access sample forms, policies, mission statements, job descriptions, RFPs and more than 30 HR toolkits.

EC21 is a business to business marketplace that facilitates online trades between exporters and importers from all around the world.

Global Sources creates, manages and delivers information that international trading partners need to meet and do business. Global Sources Direct lets small- to medium-sized companies buy retail products directly from China.

Tradeeasy is an international trade enabler, which incorporates both on-line and off-line marketing solutions to sellers.

ACAT helps small businesses with accounting and tax issues. The site maintains a listing of accredited accounting professionals.

This site provides free, downloadable templates related to documents relevant to corporations.

Business Filings provides free information and financial calculators for small business owners.

The Law & Policy Institutions is a repository of legal articles, law related resources and more.

Nolo offers self-help legal information for small businesses. Browse their free Small Business Law Center.

Payroll-Taxes.com is a useful site for conducting payroll research. Users can search the payroll database to find info on  state and federal forms, rates, publications, unemployment rates, labor laws, local taxes and important dates to know for filing forms.

Read small business legal news & legal topics.

Bizjournals is an online local news resource for small business owners. The site contains information from 55 local business journals.

The Business Opportunities Weblog is a moderated list of legitimate of business opportunities for entrepreneurs.

BusinessWeek's how-to articles, interactive tools and Small Biz Resource Center give entrepreneurs info on how to start and grow a business.

Easi Media's iEdition software contains profiles on businesses and franchise opportunities, products, services and resources. iEdition provides a fast way to find and research a wide range of industries and business topics.

Entrepreneur.com is dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs to start and grow successful companies.

FastCompany is a magazine about innovative people and ideas. Look for the Fast Companies Database, a helpful resource to find articles, information and ways to connect with other companies.

Use Inc. to discover strategies for starting, growing and running your business.  They also offer resources on business-management issues and free How-To Guides on a variety of business matters.

Inc.’s Life Resource Center also focuses on the home-based entrepreneur and offers articles and tools on how to balance the demands of work and home.

Prairie Business is a monthly business magazine for rural entrepreneurs.

SBTV, Small Business Television Network,  on how to run your business, success stories from entrepreneurs and daily news.

SmallBizResource.com is an online paper with a mission to be the go-to repository of easy-to-find, no-nonsense advice for small businesses.

The Small Business Advocate is a nationally syndicated weekday radio/Internet talk show.

Smart Business Ideas™ magazine articles go right to the heart of business issues by highlighting what’s essential to business executives. Online check out the searchable B2B Directory and well organized links focused on the needs of small business.  

Soundview Executive Book Summaries pioneered the concept of outlining the key points and ideas of full-length business books into quick and easy-to-read print summaries.

The Wall Street Journal Center for Entrepreneurs features articles on business planning and small business management. This site includes a list of franchises.

On this site, order free subscriptions to leading trade magazines.

Paul Tulenko is a syndicated columnist for Scripps-Howard. His Web site is dedicated to helping business owners & future business owners attain the success they desire.

Womensbiz.us is a free online magazine for women in all types and stages of business.

MSNBC's online version of the television news magazine, which focuses exclusively on America's small business entrepreneurs. MSNBC's "Your Business" is a weekly half-hour television program that airs Sundays at 7:30 a.m. EST.

Home-Based Working Moms is a professional association and online community of parents who work at home and those who aspire to do so.

Hybrid Mom recognizes that you wear may hats & has articles on topics from business to family, plus social networking for mom entrepreneurs.

Tamara Monosoff's site is dedicated to providing info, social networking and resources for inventors.

A mom's one-stop work-at-home resource. Advice, social networking and resources.

WebMomz is an online resource dedicated to empowering women in the areas of business, personal growth and family life.

Business.com is a business-focused search engine and directory.

This Web site features information on the frequency-marketing industry. Registration is free and provides access to articles and book reviews on frequency and loyalty programs.

How-To Network has a comprehensive library of small business how-to articles and guides.

Verizon SuperPages and SCORE bring you a free Internet Marketing Tutorial.

This site is dedicated to helping business owners and entrepreneurs sell better. Find industry-specific sales news, how-to articles, sales ideas and discussions.

KnowThis.com is an advertising and marketing virtual library that offers resource materials and useful links.

Learn how to do internet marketing for your business. Local Marketing Guide also provides a forum where you can receive personalized advice.

Marketing Experiments.com performs large-scale online marketing experiments and publishes results in its free biweekly e-newsletter. Researchers test Internet marketing methods and offer data on Web site marketing techniques that work and don't work.

Marketing coach Charlie Cook helps small businesses attract clients. His Web site offers a free marketing guide.

With the U.S. Postal Service's NetPost Mailing Online, all you need is a document, a list of addresses and an Internet connection to send direct mail. NetPost does the rest—printing, addressing, collating, folding, stuffing and sorting.

Learn to advertise effectively in newpapers and magazines. Free, practical articles, resources and message boards.

PR Newswire provides a PR Toolkit with everything necessary for getting the word out about your products and services.

SellingSelling.com provides free articles to advise small businesses on selling strategies and tactics.

Trade-Show-Advisor.com offers free information and encouragement for people whose businesses might gain exposure and attention from participation in trade shows.

VendorSeek.com connects business consumers with pre-qualified vendors based upon the dynamics of the purchaser’s needs and the specific nature of the services that the seller provides. This process enables business consumers to locate the right vendor to fill their needs and allows vendors to identify customers who are seeking the very services they provide.

BBBonline is a subsidiary of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Their mission is to promote trust and confidence on the Internet. This site helps business owners with Web sites to establish an online privacy policy program.

Instructor-led courses from Hewlett-Packard, including Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Word, data security/protection, Adobe Photoshop and much more.

A free online interactive training series for Web users who want to improve their Internet skills. Brought to you by SCORE and Verizon Superpages.com.

Get one free hour of computer consultants business training. The site also provides free articles on computer training issues.

LiveOffice provides on-demand, free conference calling with no advance notice or scheduling required. Service provides a 250 person conference capacity and 6 hour duration. Long distance rates apply.

Microsoft's small business Web site offers "tools of the Web," including SCORE business plan templates, downloads, support articles and clip art.

Open Office offers free, open-source, MS Office-compatible software that runs on a variety of platforms.

Produced by the U.S. Small Business Administration, this site contains tech information and resources for and about small businesses.

Articles at workz.com help small businesses with building their Web sites and attracting customers online.

The Office of Advocacy conducts economic research, policy analyses and small business outreach help to identify issues of concern.

The Office of Business and Community Initiatives administers programs and activities designed to provide information, education and training to prospective and existing small business owners.

SBA's disaster assistance program helps entrepreneurs develop security strategies and offers loan assistance to businesses impacted by a disaster.

SBA's Office of Entrepreneurial Development helps small businesses start, grow and be competitive by providing training, counseling and other forms of management and technical assistance.

The Government Contracting & Business Development Office is charged with making sure that small businesses get a fair share of the approximately $46 billion annual federal procurement market.

The HUBZone program stimulates economic development and creates jobs in urban and rural communities by providing federal contracting preferences to small businesses.

Export information and development assistance to help small businesses take advantage of export markets.

The SBA offers numerous loan programs to assist small businesses. 

National Small Business Week is an annual event that recognizes the important role of America’s business community. Visit the Web site to find out more.

The SBA has more than 200 free e-books and publications online. 

The Small Business Training Network is a virtual campus housing free training courses, workshops and knowledge resources designed to assist entrepreneurs and other students of enterprise.

SBIR is a highly competitive program that encourages small business to explore their technological potential and provides the incentive to profit from its commercialization.

ABWI, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995, supports businesswomen involved or interested in international trade opportunities.

ABWA brings together businesswomen and provides opportunities for growth through leadership, education, networking support and national recognition.

The AWBC helps women achieve economic self-sufficiency, create wealth and participate in economic development through education, mentoring, business development and financing opportunities.

The Athena Foundation pairs woman-owned businesses with local mentors who serve as a panel of advisors for one year, free of charge.

BUZGate has a Web site section to help women in starting, growing and succeeding in business. They offer free online tools and a virtual business incubator.

The Center for Women's Business Research documents the economic and social contributions of women-owned firms, plus consulting and public relations services to maximize the benefits of that knowledge.

The Center for Women and Enterprise’s Community Entrepreneurs Program is a training program for women who plan to start their own business to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

The Committee of 200 exemplifes and promotes entrepreneurship and corporate leadership among women. Each member has attained or exceeded a specific level of success tied to revenues and industry recognition.

Count Me In champions the cause of women's economic independence by providing access to business loans, consultation and education.

Digital Women is an international online community for women who look for a place to gather free resources, business tips, home business ideas, and a place to network.

The Direct Selling Women's Association is an international association that works to unite direct sellers around a shared vision of personal and financial success.

eWomen Network is a membership-based women's networking organization in North America who helps women and their businesses succeed.

Franchise Solutions for Women is a resource for women interested in buying their own business or franchise, including interviews with women franchise owners.

GLOW is a project that was started and is run by eWomen Network. It has brought together prominent corporate achievers and dynamic entrepreneurs, to share with you how they manifest, unleash and expand GLOW. Witness their struggles and pain and their strategies for success through the GLOW Movie.

Inc.’s Women in Business provides advice and resources for woman-owned businesses, home businesses and female company leaders.

KeyBank's Small Business Services for Women provides information on how to secure funding, forecast sales and manage accounts payable.

LadiesWhoLaunch.com is a diverse community of entrepreneurial women in various fields who find community, inspiration and support both online and through events and incubators in more than 50 markets across the U.S. and Canada.

This program provides a combination of money, mentoring and marketing tools that women entrepreneurs can use to grow their businesses to a million dollars in revenue and beyond.

NAFE provides resources and services to women through education, networking and public policy.

NAWBO is a membership organization that provides resources and networking opportunities for women in business.

A national nonprofit corporation, NWBOC increases competition for corporate and government contracts through implementation of an economic development strategy for women business owners.

The NWBC is a bipartisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and policy recommendations. The council promotes policies and programs designed to support women's business enterprises.

OWIT is a nonprofit professional organization designed to promote women doing business in international trade by providing networking and educational opportunities.

Rich Woman is devoted to increasing financial freedom by promoting entrepreneurial education and financial literacy among women. The site includes investment advice, forums, blogs, articles, networking opportunities and other resources.

IBM and IFC created a free, small business toolkit specifically for women and minority entrepreneurs to provide business information, tools and training services usually reserved for Fortune 1000 companies.

Springboard Enterprises is a nonprofit that aims to increase women business owners' participation in equity capital markets. Springboard offers education, mentoring and connection with investors and business development professionals.

As the strategic force of the Women's Ownership Movement, the USWCC was established to amplify the economic opportunities and impact of women.

WomanOwned.com provides business information and networking assistance, plus a number of tools and resources. The site also includes a search engine of women business owners from numerous countries and industries.

Formerly known as Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century, Women-21.gov is a federal one-stop shop for information and resources.

An online division of Entrepreneur magazine, Women Entrepreneur provides a wealth of information, advice and resources specifically for businesswomen. 

Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) is a national bipartisan public policy organization representing more than 500,000 women in business and owners nationwide.

Women Presidents' Organization (WPO) is for women whose businesses annually gross more than $2 million dollars. They have 49 chapters in 36 cities throughout the U.S.

Womensbiz is a free online magazine for women in all stages and types of business.

Each WBC provides assistance and training in finance, management, marketing and procurement. They also address topics like home-based businesses, and many are intermediaries for the SBA’s micro-loans and loan prequalification programs.

WBENC is dedicated to enhancing opportunities for women's business enterprises in America's major business markets.

The Women’s Venture Fund is a nonprofit organization that offers entrepreneurial skills training, small business loans and a network of business advisors in order to establish thriving businesses in urban communities.

The online version of Working Mother magazine covers work and life issues important to career-committed mothers. The site also provides resources and information for women entrepreneurs with a Franchise Guide.

FCEM is nonprofit, non-governmental organization that seeks to create awareness and reinforce the visibility of women business owners, foster professional growth and promote solidarity among women entrepreneurs worldwide.