| Current | Archives | About | Contact | Submit |
In the course of any person’s life they often think to themselves, “Hey, I sure would like to work for myself”. Generally after their current boss has taken part in some spectacular asshattery. Some of us get into get-rich-quick schemes, some of us buy books and take courses, some of us go into it blind, but most of us roll over, go back to sleep, and go back to the grind the next morning. I’m here to talk to the second and third group. I’m aware that there are probably better resources out there but mine are free. We all like free. When it comes down to it there are plenty of books and community college courses. They are very helpful and it honestly can’t hurt to participate in some of them. However many of us are broke. Any small or independent business owner can appreciate the difficulties of funding, whether in further educating themselves, or in simply keeping their business afloat. So here, in simple, easy to understand english, is a guide to the best of what’s on the web (as far as I know). We’ll start with the Wikimedia foundation. Wikimedia has birthed a host of useful projects but there are three which I’ve found to be the most useful for business purposes. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia, I have specifically used it to look up information about nonprofits (for the Independent Database Project), SQL, and PHP. The articles provide extensive information and, most importantly, links. Wikibooks has a plethora of online books for fairly much any topic you can concieve of and Wikisource is an online library. The site itself is not always 100% reliable as there will be times when you don’t find what you’re looking for. The great thing about Wikimedia is that it is constantly growing and the information is almost always up to date. Being well-informed is very important in business. Guess-work will only get you so far. Another important aspect of starting your own business is the business plan. Mapping out everything from conception to inception so you don’t hit the proverbial brick wall. It’s never fun to get halfway through a project and realise you’re unprepared for something. I could devote an entire article on how to write business plans but other people have done that for me. Small Business Administration: Business Planning Basics. The Beehive (under 'starting and owning a business'). Probably one of the most frustrating parts of starting your own business is the legal end. While no one can help you as much as an actual lawyer, here are a few sites worth taking a look at (US centric). Small Business Administration. Your local government should have state or province specific information on starting your own business at any city hall or the county website. You’re well informed, you’ve got a plan...now what? You’ve got to utilize the resources at hand. Open source software can be an invaluable boon to the indie business owner, especially in setting up a website. OScommerce is an on-line shopping cart (you can still use PayPal with OScommerce, though I could give you several reasons not to). There are a plethora of options allowing all of your shop’s needs to be met. Gallery is, you guessed it, a gallery for your photography and artwork. It can also be used to create a gallery of past work, or commissioned work. Screencaps of past website designs. Photos of the concert or fair you just put together. Use your imagination. PHPBB is a forum, run on PHP, and the design can be integrated into your own site. Forums are a great place to bring the community together, gather feedback, bounce ideas off of people, and post the latest news. All three run on a combination of the following free, open source programs: If all of that is completely beyond your technical ability you can hire a web designer and simply point these programs out (if they don’t do it first). Well, now you've got a site but nobody knows about it. Press kits can be featured on your site for interested journalists or mailed out to local newspapers to rally interest in your business. Getting the word out is vital to keeping your business afloat. If you’re just starting your business, or have put together a local craft fair, or are hosting a charity event, a press kit can be a valuable tool. eHow. The best personal advice I can give you is to keep your eyes open. See what other successful people are doing. Go to workshops. Get involved with local business groups via www.meetup.org, do some networking. Research, e-mail, ask questions and never be afraid to mess up. You learn more from mistakes than success. Good luck. XXX |
