Mankato WorkForce Center
SELF-EMPLOYED/STARTING A BUSINESS
* A Guide to Starting a Business in Minnesota - Other publications also
available.
* Links to other entrepreneurial assistance programs.
* Region Nine Development
Commission - Small Business Development Center
http://www.rndc.org/sbdc.php
* SCORE - Service Corps Of
Retired Executives
http://www.score.org/
* Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation - Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation's goal is to
engage people in the economic and civic life of our communities. The Foundation’s grants, loans,
programming and technical assistance are focused on community, youth, workforce and business.
http://www.semif.org/
* Other Internet Resources
Entrepreneurship & Management
SBA Online has a
wealth of information and a link to Pro-Net.
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov
SBA's Online Women's Business Center
has resources for women entrepreneurs.
http://www.onlinewbc.org
U.S. Business Advisor gives
official, one-stop access to government business information.
http://www.business.gov
SmartBiz has how-to
information well organized into 60+ categories and also searchable.
http://www.smartbiz.com
Inc. Online is the Web site of Inc.
Magazine.
http://www.inc.com
Markets, Demographics & Statistics
Hoover's
Industry Snapshots gives overviews of U.S. industries.
http://www.hoovers.com/industry/resources.html
U.S. Bureau of the Census has
all types of statistical information available.
http://www.census.gov
Statistical Abstract of the
U.S. is an abridged version this popular compilation of statistics.
http://blue.census.gov/statab/www/
Bureau of Labor Statistics
includes wage and unemployment rates.
http://stats.bls.gov
Minnesota Department of
Employment and Economic Development
http://www.deed.state.mn.us.org
Stat-USA has statistics from
many federal departments.
http://www.stat-usa.gov
Company Directories
Hoover's Corporate Directory
profiles large, mostly public companies.
http://www.hoovers.com
EDGAR is the database of 10-K and
other SEC filings of public companies.
http://www.sec.gov
Thomas Register is a
directory of U.S. and Canadian manufacturers.
http://www.thomasregister.com
Thomas Regional divides
480,000 manufacturers into regions and product categories.
http://www.thomasregional.com
Nynex Interactive Yellow Pages
allows searching by company or product.
http://www.bigyellow.com
Franchise Directory
has descriptions and links to 2,800 franchises.
http://www.entremkt.com/index.shtml
Organizations & Associations
Associations Online
and Associations Database link to associations with Web sites.
http://www.trainingforum.com/assoc.html
International Chamber of
Commerce Directory links to chambers worldwide.
http://clickcity.com/index2.htm
International Franchise Organization
has franchise information and a directory of franchises.
http://www.franchise.org
Government Agencies
MN Department of Revenue
has information on the department's activites and services.
http://www.taxes.state.mn.us
Minnesota Department of
Employment and Economic Development
http://www.deed.state.mn.us.org
SBA Online has a wealth
of information on small business issues.
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov
Internal Revenue Service
has tax information and tax forms.
http://www.irs.ustreas.gov
Environmental Protection
Agency has news, publications and information for small
businesses.
http://www.epa.gov/smallbusiness/
Occupational Safety & Health
Administration has safety regulatory information.
http://www.osha.gov/index.html
Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
has U.S. patents and trademarks, forms and guides.
http://www.uspto.gov
Copyright Office has
searchable copyrights, forms, and information.
http://www.loc.gov/copyright
International Business
TradeNet Export Advisor
provides one-stop access to international trade information.
http://www.tradenet.gov
ExportNet gives a good
overview of international trade.
http://www.exporttoday.com
MSU-CIBER is a
guide with links to international business sources on the Internet.
http://ciber.bus.msu.edu/busres.htm
Basic Guide to
Exporting is an introduction to exporting.
gopher://gopher.umsl.edu:70/11/library/govdocs
Breaking into
the Trade Game is a guide to exporting specifically for small
businesses.
gopher://gopher.umsl.edu:70/11/library/govdocs
Country Reports on Economic Policy and Trade Practices
http://www.state.gov/www/issues/economic/trade_reports/