researching small businesses

Before starting your own home based business there are many factors to consider. I would recommend that you check out our: key questions, common errors, home business myths, key links and trade tools to get some great information on what you can expect when starting a new business.

Some additional resources for doing further research are:

I. About.com:About.com is an online neighborhood of hundreds of helpful experts, eager to share their wealth of knowledge with visitors. Founded in 1996, About.com was acquired in March 2005 by The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT). Today, About.com is recognized as a top 15 content site and one of the largest producers of original content on the Web. The website has over 650 different topics including: Arts / Crafts Business, Consulting/Freelance, Entrepreneurs Guide, Family Business, Franchising, Home Business, Inventors, Online Business, Restauranting, Retailing, Small Business Info, Small Business: Canada and eBay.

II. Better Business Bureau:The Better Business Bureau movement started in the United States in 1912 and in Canada in 1935. Today under the Council of Better Business Bureaus Inc. of Arlington, Virginia, there are over 140 bureaus in Canada and The United States. The BBB system is a not-for-profit, public service agency financed by the private business sector with the local Bureaus across Canada serving as the action arm of the BBB system. In promoting high ethical standards of business practice, the BBB system serves as a vehicle through which the business community manifests its concern for sound consumer relationships and provides a platform for national and local business on matters of business-consumer policy.

The underlying concept of the BBB system is that businesses and organizations apply for a membership to the BBB. The BBB researchs and investigates the company and approves or denies their membership request. Once an organization is approved as a member it may display the BBB logo on its website or in its literature or permanent facilities. The idea is that consumers can gain some comfort about the ethics of the companies displaying the logo as they have been screened by BBB.

III. Government Resources:Your goverment has spent millions of dollars and many years gathering information about small businesses and developing government programs to help small business owners - why not make use of this work? Check out your local government's small business site for more information. Check out: US Government - business resources, Canadian Government - business resources, Canadian Government - statistics and other resources, Ontario, Canada - government business resources, UK Government - business resources, UK Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Australian Government - business resources.

IV. Banks:Banks also have great resources for small businesses - check out the resources for yourself at: Canadian Bankers Associations, Bank of Montreal - small business center, TD Canada Trust - small business center, Business Development Bank of Canada - small business center CIBC - small business center, Scotiabank - small business center, Royal Bank of Canada - small business center, Wachovia - small business center and WaMu - business center.

Good luck!!

I am sure if you do your research - you'll be running a sucessful business in no time!!