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Small Business Resources
Attention Business Owners
Fremont Public Library has a variety of reference sources and databases geared
toward business. contact Rick Becker in Adult Services, at 847-918-3206 to set
up an appointment.
Did You Know?
Fremont Library provides notary public services at the adult services desks. We
also offer fax services at the information desk on the first floor.
There are numerous resources on the Internet to
help small business owners. There are sites on small business in general, small
business organizations, business plans, demographics, financing, franchising,
business law, local information, and marketing. There are also index sites that
will lead you to many aspects of small business management.
 General
Small Business Organizations and Other Sites
Association of Small Business Development Centers
This coalition
of private enterprise, government, higher education, and local economic
development organizations works to improve educational assistance to small
business owners and managers. It has links to web sites of state and federal
agencies.
Entrepreneur Magazine Online
This is the online
home of the influential Entrepreneur Magazine. It includes articles and
information on home-based business, franchises, e-business, marketing, and
finance.
Ideacafe
Advertised as “The
Small Business Gathering Place,” it is a web site where small business people
ask each other questions about running a business. Other features of the site
are profiles of small business people, free publications, and step-by- step
instructions on starting and running a business, highlighting aspects such as
legal information, human resources, and finance.
US Business Advisor
This home page,
sponsored by the SBA, provides information on business development from starting
to selling a business. It gives good information on business law, human
resources issues, and e-commerce. There is an information desk feature which has
research on all aspects of business. There are also links to federal agencies.
PeerSpectives
This site is
managed by the Edward Lowe Foundation.
It provides a biweekly e-mail newsletter and a monthly report on
entrepreneurial subjects. There is a search feature that leads to articles and
other sites. There are also 11 to 15 page lessons for business people on such
issues as leadership, strategy, people, money, and customers.
Score
Service Corps of
Retired Executives is a group of retired business professionals that advises
business owners and prospective owners on all aspects of business management.
They provide online business advice through an e-mail service on the site. There
are also how to articles, lists of SCORE centers in all areas of the country,
and links to business sites.
Small Business Administration
The SBA, part
of the federal government, gives advice to small business owners through
this web site. There is a good startup kit provided here in both English and
Spanish. Short pieces of advice are provided by the SBA for each step in the
plan. Special information is given for minorities, disabled people, women,
and veterans. A detailed outline/tutorial of a business plan is also
available on this site.
Business
Start Page
This site
focuses on starting and running a business. There are articles by prominent
business experts. There are links to sites on business subjects. There is a
virtual reference desk with links to all things related to business, such as
money, travel, government and yellow pages.
Small & Home Based Business Library
You can find
good advice on many topics concerning small business here, along with
citations telling where the articles originated.
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Business
Plans
American Express Small Business Resources
This site
breaks the typical business plan into seven key elements. It then gets
detailed about the various parts of the plan.
Yahoo Small business
This provides
an online guide to writing a business plan. It provides very detailed
information about plans, what they are, and what they can do for a business.
Sample plans are included on the site.
About.com Small Business Information
This outlines
the process of producing a business plan for entrepreneurs. It is very
detailed.
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Demographics
County Business Patterns
Looking for
economic data on business in various counties and zip codes around the
country? This is the place to go. The information is provided by the Census
Bureau.
Lake County QuickFacts
This Census
Bureau page provides information on the population of Lake County, Illinois.
It includes information on total population, race, housing, income, and
employment. This page gives information on the 1990 and 2000 population of
the city of Chicago. It is census information given through the City of
Chicago web site.
Lake County Partners
Lake County Partners, a business development
group, provides this database of basic information on Lake County
communities. Among the statistics found are per capita income, home values,
property tax rate, education, services, population, and employment.
Northeast Illinois Planning Commission
NIPC, a
planning agency for a six county area around Chicago, consolidates local
statistical information on places within its boundaries on this web site.
Lake County information is included.
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Financing
Bizmove.com
This site tells
how to get SBA small business loans from the government. The rules are given
in detail here.
Inc.com
This part of
Inc magazine’s online site offers information on how to finance small
businesses. It includes articles and links.
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Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
This official
state page lists loan programs offered by the state for small businesses. It
also has links for information on the programs.
SBA Loan Programs
Synopses of the
various SBA loan programs are given at this, their official web site. More
details on the individual programs are available by clicking on an icon at
the top left of the page.
BusinessFinance.com
This commercial site provides information on
different sources of capital, what they are and lists some of each type. It
allows people to find out what steps they need to take to find out their
needs. Their offical objective is to create an online marketplace where
businesses in search of capital can match the exact funding criteria of
sources with capital to place.
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Franchising
Franchise Zone
Entrepreneur
magazine hosts this page. It contains articles on franchising. It also has
franchise listings such as top 500, fastest growing, best new franchises,
and homebased franchises. There is also a listing of franchises by type.
Examples of this include automotive, food, and retail.
Consumer Guide to Buying a Franchise
The Federal
Trade Commission has prepared this online booklet to help prospective
franchisees decide on whether to buy a franchise and if so, which type to
buy. This site is very thorough in preparing franchisees for almost anything
that can come up.
Franchising.Com
This is a very
comprehensive directory of franchises. It has alphabetical listings,
listings by category, listings by investment level, and by country. It gives
prospective franchisees links to the websites and email addresses of
franchisors and suppliers.
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Law
Business Law Lounge
This is the
business law section of the ‘Lectric Law Library, an internet based
collection of legal information. It is quite comprehensive.
HR One
This web site
gives employers information on human resources law. It includes legal
articles with a lot of information.
Browse information on the law or find a lawyer
near you.
Martindale-Hubbell Lawyer Locator
You can use
this site to find a lawyer by name, firm, location, or practice.
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Local
Business Information
Lake County Partners
This group of
government and chamber of commerce business people from Lake County is
trying to help maintain economic vitality and quality of life in the county
by helping small business people.
College of Lake County Small Business Development Center
This page is
run by CLC’s Small Business Development Center. It has some contact
information and links that are useful to small business owners.
Chicago Tribune Small Business Page
The
Tribune’s online site includes a section for small business with articles
and advice.
Chicago Department of Planning and Development
Listings of
all assistance programs offered by the city to local businesses are found
here. The programs include business programs, financial assistance, tax
incentives, and demographic information. A wonderful resource guide to
Chicago facts is available on the site.
Crain’s Chicago Business
This web
site of Chicago’s top business magazine requires registration, which is
free. It includes articles for small business, listings of resources for
small business owners, listings of the area’s largest SBA lenders, and a
directory of useful web sites.
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Marketing
Introduction to Marketing
This web
site has some good information on marketing specifically for small business.
Guerrilla Marketing
This is the
web site of the “guerrilla” business people. It includes access to articles
written by people such as Jay Levinson on marketing.
Small
Business Index Sites
Internet Public Library
Small
business and entrepreneurial resources are compiled on this page of the
Internet Public Library, a project sponsored by the University of Michigan
to catalog useful resources from throughout the Internet. This may lead you
to interesting web sites such as the Online Women’s Business Center.
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