January 6th, 2009 in Featured, Management

21 Entrepreneurship Websites Worth Checking Out

entrepreneur The number of websites dedicated to helping entrepreneurs is incredible: there are always new sites, to the point that it can be hard to keep track of them. However, I have a few favorites. There are some tools I absolutely rely on for everything from marketing to billing, some blogs I read constantly and a few resource sites that I consult for all sorts of small business issues.

If you are an entrepreneur of any kind, it doesn’t particularly matter where you are in the process. Whether you’re just starting out freelancing in your spare time or you have a thriving business and you’re looking to expand, there are always new resources that can help you along in the entrepreneurial process. These sites are a great starting point: they’re all good resources and you may not have explored all of them.

Blogs

  1. Startup Nation: Startup Nation offers entrepreneurial advice from a whole slew of people who have been there and done that — and have the business to prove it. The site has advice on just about every aspect of creating and running a startup.
  2. IttyBiz: This site is an especially valuable resource if you’re looking to start an online business, but it’s got tons of great information on marketing in general.
  3. Lateral Action: For creative types, like graphic designers, writers and such, there are some special challenges that come with running your own business. Laterlal Action offers up advice specially targeted to those fields.
  4. Freelance Switch: FreelanceSwitch has all things freelance — business advice, ideas for staying productive and far more. Even though the title says ‘freelance,’ there’s plenty of good information for anyone running their own business.
  5. Escape from Cubicle Nation: Leaving a cubicle in favor of starting your own business isn’t easy, but this blog helps support such escapees.
  6. Young Entrepreneur: Young Entrepreneur focuses on the challenges that younger entrepreneurs face when they start business. It’s also got some great profiles of young entrepreneurs.
  7. Small Business Labs: It isn’t easy to predict the trends that will affect small business, but Small Business Labs goes the extra mile to help entrepreneurs figure out what’s coming next.

Web Applications

  1. Basecamp: There’s a reason that Basecamp and 37signals other tools are so popular — they work better than a lot of the other options. Basecamp is the company’s project management tool. 37signals also offer Highrise (CRM) and a few other great tools.
  2. Blinksale: There are quite a few online options for invoicing. Blinksale is one of the most recommended options, in part because it works well with other tools like PayPal and Basecamp.
  3. Skype: Skype is a popular choice for making phone calls online, but it has a lot of bells and whistles (like video conferencing) that make it a far more useful tool for a small business than you might expect.
  4. LinkedIn: LinkedIn has come in handy for me many times. It’s an easy way to find contacts for a wide variety of purposes, as well as get answers and advice on all sorts of business topics.
  5. Zoho: For a full suite of business tools, including CRM, invoicing, project management and databases, check out Zoho. All of the tools have at least some level of free use, perfect for an entrepreneur bootstrapping a business.
  6. RocketLawyer: If you aren’t sure where to start with the legalities of running your own business, RocketLawyer provides free forms as well as help with all sorts of legal documents.
  7. Google Docs: At least when you’re starting out, Google can be the easiest way to share documents, manage your business’ calendar and far more. It may not be a long term solution, but it can help you get started without spending a ton of money.

Resource Sites

  1. SBA: The U.S. Small Business Administration is a treasure trove of information for entrepreneurs. In general, the SBA’s focus is helping entrepreneurs create long-lived small businesses, but there are also some great resources for folks further along in the process. If you aren’t in the U.S., there’s still some valuable information on the site — and you may find a similar agency where you’re living.
  2. SCORE: If you find yourself in need of mentoring from an entrepreneur who’s already been through it all, SCORE can help you find a mentor. The organization is an amazing source of free business advice.
  3. Freelancers Union: The Freelancers Union offers a long list of resources for freelancers — and the Union’s definition includes a pretty wide variety of entrepreneurs as freelancers. Among the information you can find on this site is health insurance options that don’t require quite the expense of other non-employer options.
  4. Entrepreneur: For a huge collection of information on starting and running your own business, start with Entrepreneur. The company behind the site also runs Women Entrepreneur — a good resource for women looking at entrepreneurship.
  5. BusinessWeek Small Business: Business Week has been a solid source of business information for years. The magazine’s small business site is an equally solid resource.
  6. About.com Entrepreneurs: About.com offers a regularly updated resource on entrepreneurship. It’s got links to all sorts of other resources, both on About.com and elsewhere on the internet.
  7. Entrepreneurship.org: The Entrepreneurship.org site is run by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to provide global resources for entrepreneurs.

These sites are only a starting point, of course. They’re the resources I use myself — and I know there are thousands out there I haven’t seen yet. If you’ve got any resources that you’d like to recommend to entrepreneurs, I’d appreciate it if you would share your links in the comments.

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WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY

Thursday Bram

Thursday Bram blogs about a variety of topics, from personal finance to small business. She is the author of an upcoming book on the tools and tricks you need to build a career you can take with you during long-term travel. More information about Thursday and her book, Working Your Way Around the World, is available on her personal site, ThursdayBram.com.

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  • Shevonne says on January 6th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    Great list!

  • Mumbai says on January 6th, 2009 at 1:24 pm

    Great list. Very useful. I’ve bookmarked this article

  • Dave says on January 6th, 2009 at 2:08 pm

    Fantastic list and there are a few here I hadn’t come across myself. At the risk of plugging our own website, entreprenurses.net has been developed for nurse entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs and is full of free resources for both.

  • Tara says on January 6th, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    Great information – keep up the good work!

  • Jessica says on January 6th, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    Thanks for the resource list!

  • Marcelo Shigueo Toyama says on January 6th, 2009 at 2:59 pm

    For brazilian entrepreneurs, there is an extense video library with lectures on many subjects at the endeavor site. http://www.empreenderendeavor.com.br

  • Michael Plishka says on January 6th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

    Great list! I would suggest Donny Deutsch’s book,”The Big Idea” as it has additional resources not mentioned above.

  • Aleksandar M. Velkoski says on January 6th, 2009 at 7:08 pm

    The SBA is a great site for small businesses. If you need financing, support, anything, you’ll find it at the SBA.

  • Pamela Slim says on January 6th, 2009 at 7:13 pm

    Thanks for the mention! I really appreciate it.

    Another great small biz site is http://www.ducttapemarketing.com. I like the blend of basic marketing info with a slant towards social media tools.

    Have a great new year!

    All the best,

    -Pam

  • Lee Englestone says on January 7th, 2009 at 5:58 am

    Nice list, will check these out when I get the time.

    – lee

  • George says on January 7th, 2009 at 6:19 am

    I use Google Docs all the time. It’s cheap (free). :)

    Great list thanks.

  • Mike Bite says on January 7th, 2009 at 8:48 am

    Hi, that’s a great list with some really useful stuff. But how about a Book List? Books I’d recommend to entrepreneurs would be:

    - The E-Myth Revisited, by Michael E. Gerber
    - How to Become a Rainmaker, by Jeffrey J. Fox
    - Purple Cow, by Seth Godin
    - Making Things Happen, by Scott Berkun
    - Getting Thinks Done, by David Allen
    - Slide: ology, by Nancy Duarte
    - Now Discover Your Strengths, by Marcus Buckingham
    - Never Eat Alone, by Keith Ferrazzi

    A more extensive list could be found on my blog, where I also write about entrepreneurship and personal development.

    “Have more time and more money to do what you love…” is something I once read and though to be a very good quote.

    Wish you all a good day and thanks again for the good work.
    Mike

  • Scrappy Upstart says on January 7th, 2009 at 9:20 am

    Great post, good list. I find many of the smaller entrepreneur blogs quite helpful.

  • Justin says on January 7th, 2009 at 12:22 pm

    Great list! Thanks for sharing! I have been on my own for a while but I always enjoy finding great new sites with fresh ideas.

  • Timothy says on January 7th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

    Nice list! I RSS’d some of those blogs and saved some more on Delicious (as well as this page).

    Thanks again!

  • Kimber Lockhart says on January 7th, 2009 at 6:22 pm

    Check out Stanford University’s ECorner (http://ecorner.stanford.edu) with links to podcasts and clips from the top entrepreneurs of our time. Great advice and a lot of really interesting stories.

  • Scott says on January 8th, 2009 at 9:59 am

    This is a great list!

    Another great website that is one of my favorites to read and stay up to date with is The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur http://www.ToiletPaperEntrepreneur.com/blog

  • John says on January 8th, 2009 at 8:05 pm

    May I also recommend checking out Intervals? It’s a web-based project management tool that includes time tracking and task management. It’s ideal for small teams and entrepreneurs who don’t have a large budget for a project manager.

  • kelly says on January 9th, 2009 at 5:09 am

    GREAT LIST to add to my reading list!! Thanks!! :D Freelancers, please feel free to twitter me – love to connect to likeminded ppl. —> http://www.MyQute.comqutequte

  • Sanish says on January 12th, 2009 at 12:33 am

    Great list :)

    Have a great New Year .

    Thanks,
    Sanish

  • geek says on January 14th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    This is indeed a great list. I agree

  • Hal Alpiar says on January 15th, 2009 at 2:58 pm

    Thanks for the great list. Keep it going, and please consider adding my 7-days-a-week blog (“BusinessWorks…does yours?” http://www.halalpiar.com) on your next round.

    With 30+ years of teaching and doing Entrepreneurship (including copyrighted names and training programs for “Corporate Entrepreneurship” and “Doctorpreneurs”), I devote close to 90% of my blog content to entrepreneur-related personal and business development issues.

    Entrepreneurial visitors and comments are welcome 24/7.

    Thank you! halalpiar

  • Alice McLane says on January 19th, 2009 at 11:04 am

    Basecamp is a good tool for a solo entrepreneur with one or two projects. If you are going to run multiple projects, wrike.com might be worth checking out.

  • Marc Norris says on January 19th, 2009 at 11:15 pm

    As for books, how about “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” series to get the entreprenur, or business driven mindset.

    Also, I would add “The Magic of Thinking Big” – I don’t remember who it is written by (I have a copy of it somewhere here..), but it is a golden oldie for us entrepreneurs who dare to dream and bring those dreams to life.

  • Zena Mills says on April 1st, 2009 at 9:29 pm

    This is a great list. Thanks.
    To keep up with the latest small biz news and articles I use aggregator sites like http://www.bestofsmallbiz.com and alltop.com.

  • Dave Spring says on April 26th, 2009 at 10:59 am

    A new one-stop solution for entrepreneurs. Has great blogs. I use this site the most now

  • Frank Fitton says on December 4th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

    I think that anyone that is specifically interested in buying a business has to check out The Business Buyer Advocate at http://www.businessbuyeradvocate.com , it’s full of must have information for anyone even thinking about taking the plunge.

    What I like best about it is that there seem to be a whole lot of experts that read it and are available to answer any questions you or I might have. The comments section of the posts is extremely insightful.

    Here’s their tagline from the about section, I think it sums it up pretty well.. “The purpose of our blog – The Business Buyer Advocate ® – is to further our understanding of issues affecting the buying and selling of privately held small and midsize businesses. We invite war stories, expert advice and marketplace intelligence from buyers, advisors, business brokers and dealmakers.”

    If your on the other side of the fence they also have The Business Seller Advocate at http://www.businessselleradvocate.com

    They even have an incentive going on right now that if you leave a comment you’ll get a free e-book. The book is “How to Get ALL the Money You Want For Your Business Without Stealing It” by Ted J. Leverette. I got mine, and I think it’s quite good.

  • Chelle Parmele says on January 6th, 2010 at 2:19 pm

    Great list of really useful websites. The SBA and the local SBDC offices are a huge asset to the entrepreneurial community.

    I would also suggest John Jantsch blog http://www.ducttapemarketing.com as well as Anita Campbell’s http://www.smallbiztrends.com

    Our resource website, http://www.bplans.com is another great place to get free articles, sample plans and business calculators.

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