So you’re finally ready to turn that idea that you have been spinning around in your head into a reality. You have some code written, you have a design worked out and you even managed to convince a few family members to loan you enough money to get an honest to goodness company created. What’s next? Well, the answer is a whole lot of hard work.

To help ease the pain of starting your own business, I wanted to pass along some helpful resources from the people at SCORE.

SCORE


VideoJug: Business Plans

SCORE is an organization that provides free advice on starting your business. Even if you don’t contact them directly, you can get quite a bit just from surfing their website.

Templates. You can pick up templates for everything from a Break Even Analysis to a Business Plan.

Guides. I love How-Tos and SCORE provides them in spades. Might I suggest glancing at the article on Defining Goals.

Ask Score. A database of people who can help you with your business questions. It’s worth exploring if you have a question that you think needs a deeper response than the Internet can offer.

Web 2.0 Roundup

Here are a few more hints to get you started from the people at SCORE, but first here is one from me. Explore all of your resources. Everywhere from the SBA to Entrepreneurship.com can provide some great advice for starting a business, look around you’ll thank yourself later.

  • Clearly define your business idea and be able to succinctly articulate it. Know your mission.
  • Examine your motives. Make sure that you have a passion for owning a business and for this particular business.
  • Be willing to commit to the hours, discipline, continuous learning and the frustrations of owning your own business.
  • Conduct a competitive analysis in your market, including products, prices, promotions, advertising, distribution, quality, service, and be aware of the outside influences that affect your business.
  • Seek help from other small businesses, vendors, professionals, government agencies, employees, trade associations and trade shows. Be alert, ask questions, and visit your local SCORE office.

[One of our sponsors, Videojug, provides a great rundown on how to make a Business Plan, give it a look. Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed before leaving]