The Staff of Entrepreneur Media - Finance Your Business: Secure Funding to Start, Run, and Grow Your Business

T hey say you can never be rich enough or young enough. While these could be argued, we believe you can never have enough resources. Therefore, we present for your consideration a wealth of sources for you to check into, check out, and harness for your own personal information blitz. These sources are tidbits, ideas to get you started on your research. They are by no means the only sources out there, and they should not be taken as the ultimate answer. Research has been done on each company, but businesses do tend to move, change, fold, and expand. Please do your homework carefully, and then get out and start investigating.

Business U.S.A.For general information, (844) B IZ-USA2, http://business.usa.gov

Internal Revenue Service(800) 829-4933, www.irs.gov

Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)www.mbda.gov

Small Business Administration(800) 827-5722, www.sba.gov

SBA Loan Programswww.sba.gov/loanprograms

U.S. Department of Labor(866) 487-2365, www.dol.gov

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission(800) 669-4000, www.eeoc.gov

Associations

American Accounting Association(941) 921-7747, www.aaahq.org

American Institute of Certified Public Accountantswww.aicpa.org

Association of Credit and Collection Professionals(952) 926-6547, www.acainternational.org

CCH Inc. (888) 224-7377, www.cch.com

PrimeGlobalInternational association of independent accounting firms, www.primeglobal.net

Internet Resources

American Express OPEN for BusinessResources, workshops, and articles related to small businesses, including financial management and marketing ideas, (800) 492-3344, www.openforum.com

CPA Practice Advisorhttp://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/directory

FiservOffers different types of business payment solutions, including the option of paying bills and receiving payments electronically, (262) 879-5000, www.fiserv.com

Dun & BradstreetProvides business credit-reporting services, (866) 203-3151, www.dnb.com

Equifax Credit Information Services Inc.Provides credit-reporting services, (888) 202-4025, www.equifax.com

ExperianProvides credit-reporting services, (888) 397-3742, www.experian.com

First Data Corp.Provides credit-processing services, www.firstdata.com

TelecheckProvides check-guarantee services, www.telecheck.com

TransUnionProvides credit-reporting services, (866) 922-2100, www.transunion.com

Angel Capital Associationwww.angelcapitalassociation.org

Bankratewww.bankrate.com

Bloomberg Businesswww.bloomberg.com

CNN Moneyhttp://money.cnn.com

Entrepreneurhttps://www.entrepreneur.com/

FundingPostTMwww.fundingpost.com

MarketWatchwww.marketwatch.com

Microsoft Service Networkwww.msn.com

The Wall Street Journalwww.WSJ.com

AccountEdge Prowww.accountedge.com

FreshBookswww.freshbooks.com

QuickBooks Prohttp://quickbooks.intuit.com

Kabbagewww.kabbage.com

Sage Onewww.sageone.com

Annual Credit ReportThe only source for your free credit reports. Authorized by federal law, www.annualcreditreport.com.

Equifaxwww.equifax.com/

Experianwww.experian.com/small-business/services.jsp

Free Credit Reporthttps://www.freecreditreport.com/

EquifaxP.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374, (800) 685-1111, www.equifax.com

ExperianP.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013, (888) 397-3742, www.experian.com

TransUnion LLCP.O. Box 1000 Chester, PA 19022, (800) 888-4213, www.transunion.com

Crowdfunderwww.crowdfunder.com

Indiegogowww.indiegogo.com

Kickstarterwww.kickstarter.com

Peerbackershttp://peerbackers.com/

BorroOnline pawnbroker, www.borro.com

LendioMatching small businesses with lenders, www.lendio.com

PawngoOnline pawnbroker, www.internetpawn.com

CAN Capital414 W. 14th Street, New York, NY 10014, www.cancapital.com

Eileen Fisher Women-Owned Business Grant Programwww.eileenfisher.com/grants/women-owned-business/grant-program-guidelines/

FedEx Think Bigger Small Business Grant Programhttp://smallbusinessgrant.fedex.com

Idea Caf Small Business Grantwww.businessownersideacafe.com/small_business_grants

Microworldwww.microworld.com

Planet Financewww.planetfinance.com

Small Business Innovation Researchwww.sbir.gov/about/about-sbir

Small Business Technology Transfer Programhttps://www.sba.gov/offices/headquarters/oca/resources/6828

Womens Center for Entrepreneurship Corporationwww.wcecnj.org

Walmart Womens Economic Empowerment Initiativehttp://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2011/09/14/walmart-launches-global-womens-economic-empowerment-initiative

Zions Bank Smart Women Smart Moneywww.zionsbank.com/learning-center/swsm-grant.jsp

Cash from the Crowd: How to Crowdfund Your Ideas and Fain Fans for Your Success by Sally Outlaw, Entrepreneur Press, 2013

Get Funded: A Kick-Ass Plan for Running a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign by Nicole Delger, CreateSpace, 2013

The Indiegogo Crowdfunding Field Guide by Indiegogo, https://learn.indiegogo.com/marketing-crowdfunding-field-guide-a

The Kickstarter Handbook: Real-Life Success Stories of Artists, Inventors, and Entrepreneurs by Don Steinberg, Quirk Books, 2012

Raising Capital: Get the Money You Need to Grow Your Business by Andrew J. Sherman, AMACOM, 2005

Start Your Own Business: The Only Startup Book Youll Ever Need by the Staff of Entrepreneur Media, 6th edition, Entrepreneur Press, 2015

The Tax and Legal Playbook: Game-Changing Solutions to Your Small Business Questions by Mark. J. Kohler, Entrepreneur Press, 2015

Write Your Business Plan: Get Your Plan in Place and Your Business Off the Ground by the Staff of Entrepreneur Media, 6th edition, Entrepreneur Press, 2015

Build Your Business Without Breaking the Bank

https://www.udemy.com/build-your-business-without-breaking-the-bank/

The Complete Crowdfunding Launch Formula for $100k Campaigns

https://www.udemy.com/how-to-raise-over-400k-with-crowdfunding-and-kickstarter/

Create a Damn Good Business Plan

www.udemy.com/create-a-damn-good-businessplan

Introduction to Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs

https://www.sba.gov/tools/sba-learning-center/training/introduction-crowdfunding-entrepreneurs

Kickstarter: Crowdfunding Tips and Tricks to Fund a Campaign

https://www.udemy.com/hackkickstarter/

New Venture Finance: Startup Funding for Entrepreneurs

https://www.coursera.org/learn/startup-funding

How to Write a Business Planwww.sba.gov/tools/sba-learning-center/training/how-write-businessplan

ON YOUR MARK...

W hy did you pick up this book? Perhaps you know you want to be an entrepreneur and take charge of your own life. Youve already got a great idea for a business youre sure will be a hit. Or perhaps you think, somewhere in the back of your mind, that maybe you might like to start your own business but youre not sure what venture to start, what entrepreneurship is really like, and whether its for you.

Whichever of these categories you fall into, youve come to the right place. In Part 1, Think, well show you what it means to be an entrepreneur. Use our personal goals and objectives worksheet to decide if entrepreneurship is right for you. Dont have a business idea, or not sure if your idea will fly? Youll learn the secrets to spotting trends before they happen and for coming up with dozens of surefire business ideas. Well also discuss various ways of going into business, including part- and full-time entrepreneurship. Finally, well show you the different options for startup, such as starting from scratch, purchasing an existing business, or buying into a franchise or business opportunity system.