Online business resources from U.S. government

Starting a business and running a business requires careful planning and knowledge of corporate structures and tax requirements – even for independent consultants.

The U.S. government and related agencies has a large number of online business resource tools available to help small business owners – and even managers or owners of growing businesses.

Much, if not all, of the information on the Web resources is free-of-charge – or we should remember that the business resource information is paid for through tax dollars.

Utilize these online resources to get a variety of business information and even connect with other business owners at events that may be listed on some of the sites.

1 Small Business Administration (SBA) at www.sba.gov.

The SBA site offers free online training with modules that may be completed in about 30 minutes. Log on to sba.gov, locate “Free online training” in the left hand column and click. Inside are modules covering a number of topics: starting a business, finance and accounting, and marketing.

The SBA site also leads to local business development centers located in key cities.

The SBA was created in 1953 as an independent agency of the federal government to aid, counsel, assist and protect the interests of small business concerns.

2 Business.gov is the U.S. government’s Web site for small business. According to the site, “Business.gov is the only government service to provide access to Federal, state and local government from a single website.”

There’s also plenty of information on starting a business in addition to following rules and regulations across industries.

The site is divided into several different strategic categories. Notice the links lead to different sites for businesses. Under “running a business” there is information on taxes that leads to the IRS site.

3 IRS.gov has plenty of information on its small business section that pertains to starting or closing a business in addition to answers to tax questions.

Notice on the page titled “Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center” there is a sub-titled “Videos and Other Educational Products” which leads to a page and the link at the top is “IRS Video Portal.” Click on that link to reach tax.gov.

4 Tax.gov has archived video presentations and webinars for individuals, small businesses and tax professionals.

Wondering about home office deductions? Click on the tab in the left hand column that says “Business Expenses” and “Home Office Deductions” is one of the choices for watching a presentation.

5 For import and export information, one web site to visit is the International Trade Association at trade.gov.

The site is divided into four categories:

• U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service

• Manufacturing and Services

• Market Access and Compliance

• Import Administration

6 Export.gov is a website to help U.S.-based small businesses understand how to promote products in other countries.

Businesses that want to go international to get involved in expanding markets such as India or China will want to lay out a long-term plan and utilize consultants who know the local landscape in terms of culture and regulations.

Since so much free business information is available online, each week try to prioritize the most pressing questions and use one or two of these sites to do research or re-visit specific business topics.