Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurial Education

The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Clearinghouse on Entrepreneurship Education is an adjunct of the federal Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) system, created as a joint project of UCLA and the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. The database, updated weekly, contains abstracts of materials on entrepreneurial education at all levels; it is more scholarly than similar databases.

Creating an Effective Business Plan

The American Express Company's site provides a workshop centered around the key elements of a business plan.

Entrepreneurship Education on the Web

Developed by St. Louis University, this site includes how-to information and identifies resources by business topics and functions for starting, running, and growing business.

Entrepreneurship: Starting and Managing Your Own Business

The U.S. Small Business Administration collaborated with My Own Business, Inc. to provide a free online course for small business owners and prospective entrepreneurs about starting and managing a small business.

Online Classroom

Sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Entrepreneurial Development, this is a virtual campus of free online training courses, workshop announcements, and knowledge resources.

The Ultimate Trade Show Resource

Trade show information on over 500,000 shows, searchable by their name, location, type, and date.

Women's Business Center

Created in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Women's Business Ownership, this is an interactive business training Web site for entrepreneurial women. It is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Icelandic, and Arabic. The site contains a list of the regional centers, eight of them in California, which provide long-term training, counseling, and assistance in finance, management, marketing, procurement, and the Internet.

UC Extension

This site identifies the continuing education activities and learning opportunities offered by the University of California's Extension program, including its eight business schools statewide.

AllBusiness: Champions of Small Business

The "Business Advice" section provides hundreds of how-to articles, expert advice, and downloadable (for a fee) business forms and agreements.

AskNow

AskNow provides immediate and reliable information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week through live, online chat with business librarians throughout California. From the convenience of your home or office, you can obtain quick answers to your questions. This service is also available in Spanish.

Business.com - Small Business

This subset of the meta site business.com provides extensive links to Small Business categories, including business plans, managing growth, franchising, minority-owned businesses, family-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, etc.

Business Nation

The site contains a comprehensive Small Business Resource Directory, including Web site links, entrepreneur resources, small business news, and much more.

Business: The Business Gateway to Federal Resources

Developed and maintained by the U.S. Small Business Administration, this is a one-stop portal to any kind of Federal form or information that a small business owner needs to access; the topics range from Federal government services (including training and financial assistance) to applicable laws and regulations.

CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit

Downloadable checklists, model business plans, forms, and other documents are available here free of charge.

Digital Commerce Center

The site contains online resources for entrepreneurs and small business owners, and archives The Entrepreneur's Notebook, a column sponsored by EC2 and published weekly in the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Entreworld

There is a “world of resources” including articles and research links here, divided into the broad categories of Starting Your Business, Growing Your Business, and Supporting Entrepreneurship. The Biz Info Center is especially noteworthy.

Fambiz

This site tailors its information to family-owned and closely owned companies, covering such topics as sibling rivalry and inter-generational issues.

HealthCoverageGuide.org

From the California Healthcare Foundation, this site provides "independent, unbiased information" to help "small business owners in California" decide whether to offer health insurance to employees and to choose the best plan for their company and employees. It includes legal considerations, who is eligible for coverage, and a step-by-step planning guide for setting up a business health plan.

HowStuffWorks   Business Channel

Part of the award-winning HowStuffWorks destination site, this is an unusual resource for anyone who wants to know how different aspects of business work, from E-commerce to banner ads.

PeerSpectives

The Edward Lowe Foundation champions the entrepreneurial spirit by encouraging "second-stage" business owners to peer network and take their company to the next level. A second-stage business is past the start-up stage but not yet professionally managed.

SCORE: Counselors to America’s Small Business

The Service Corps of Retired Executives gives small business owners free guidance in establishing and maintaining successful enterprises. The Web site offers disaster advice; locations of local chapters; links to calculators, free software, business plans, trade shows, and other business resources; news and informational articles; and free, confidential counseling by e-mail and in person. Counselors representing more than 600 skills are available to assist in locating investors, setting goals, veterans’ business issues, and other matters.

Small Business Advisor

This site contains a wide variety of online information for the entrepreneur and small business owner.

Small Business Resources: Work At Home Mom

Designed for work-at-home-moms, the site contains an extensive list of small business resources.

Welcome Business USA

Practical hands-on, how-to’s, and ideas for operating a small business are gathered here.

This service is supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services or the California State Library, and no official endorsement by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services or the California State Library should be inferred.