6. Help for
Women
If you feel it's a man's world out there, there's help
for you. Springboard Enterprises, for instance, is an
organization that coaches women entrepreneurs and puts them before
investors.
For inspiration and advice, look to the National Association of
Women Business Owners (NAWBO). This 8,000-member organization has dues, but
most chapters allow you to attend three meetings before requiring
you to join, says Suzanne Pease, NAWBO's president-elect.
7. Technology
Centers
The Oklahoma Technology Commercialization Center (OTCC) in Oklahoma City
is on a mission to help create technology companies. "There
are similar organizations across the country," says Bill
Grissom, OTCC's director of operations and finance.
"We're all similar in that we're helping entrepreneurs
make an economic impact." Most such centers exist to help
technological start-ups, admits Grissom, because that's where
the money is.
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Some organizations are free, and some charge a "nominal
fee," says Grissom, who says OTCC asks for $750 "just to
make sure [entrepreneurs are] serious." The money goes
directly to a market research firm to look at the
entrepreneur's product or service. "And then all the other
services we provide [are] free," says Grissom, whose
organization helps start-ups test technologies, develop marketing
plans and hunt for venture capital.
8. Ethnic
Help
Whether you're Native American, African American or Asian
American, you likely have a group of peers that wants to help you.
The Oregon Native
American Business and Entrepreneurial Network, for instance,
offers classes for $10 to $100 to Native Americans in Idaho,
Northern California, Oregon and Washington.
Also check out the Minority Business Development Agency, a federal agency
that's available to numerous minority groups.
9. Business Community
Centers
Your local business center is another place to turn to. They're
not everywhere, but many states and towns have them. It's worth
going to a search engine and typing in "business community
center" or simply "business" and the name of your
town or state. Look at it this way: If nothing else, by the time
you've gone to everybody looking for free help, everybody's
going to know you.
10. Friends and
Family
After all, they do count, and they do care about you and your new
business. You can turn a mass-mailing project into an assembly line
of helpful parents, cousins and friends, and treat everybody to
pizza. If you have a friend or relative who owns a business, you
can barter services. Or just ask for help without them expecting
anything but your gratitude. If they're last on your list, they
really should be first.
| Why Stop at
10? |
For a
few more helpful resources that come cheap, look to the Web:- www.emergingtechpr.com: Aimed at
start-up tech companies, this is a site for anybody with PR
questions but not budget to hire a PR person. It was created by
Hilary Kaye of Hilary Kaye Associates in Tustin,
California.
- Sure, they hope you'll hire one of
the attorneys in their database, but www.lawyers.com is a free resource. The
site offers handbooks and articles with legal advice on employment
issues, taxes, real estate and banking.
- Trying to figure out your business plan?
You'll find worthy help at www.planware.org, which offers guides
and templates.
- www.bizmove.com:
Recommended by the SCORE Web site, this is a comprehensive,
impressive free resource. Definitely worth checking
out.
|
Geoff Williams is a full-time freelance journalist in
Loveland, Ohio, and a frequent contributor to Entrepreneur.
Originally published in the February 2003 issue of Entrepreneur's StartUps
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