Are you an entrepreneur who has decided to take the plunge and launch your own business? There’s no doubt that it takes a tremendous amount of work, initiative and creativity. One of the most important startup tasks is finding the online resources that will help your business succeed. What are the startup resources for entrepreneurs? There are many startup resources for entrepreneurs, including some that are very specific to your industry. I’ve included some of the best startup resources for entrepreneurs below, that cover anything from blogging to customer acquisition, marketing to operations, and more.
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The resources you need to start a business can be broken into five broad categories: financial, human, educational, emotional and physical resources.
Financial Resources: Funding
The most important element in starting a business is funding. Even the most basic home business incurs a multitude of startup costs, including registering a business name, obtaining a business telephone line and printing business cards.
Financial resources can be obtained from a variety of sources, the easiest being from the personal accounts of the company’s founder. Alternatively, loans and lines of credit may be granted from financial institutions, friends and relatives, private investors. In addition, many grants are offered from private and public sources to entrepreneurs of all demographics and personal situations.
Human Resources: Employees
The success of an organization is heavily reliant on the talent and strength of its employees. The hiring of experienced professionals with track records of excellence within their area of expertise ensures that the mission and goals of the company will be carried out efficiently and with competence. Strong team members can be recruited using a variety of methods. Staffing agencies and executive search firms specialize in placing talent of all levels within every industry. An alternative is to find employees through referrals from individuals whose judgment is trusted.
Educational Resources: Industry Know How
Perhaps the greatest thing an entrepreneur can do when establishing a new business is to gain as much education possible. By understanding her competition and gaining an in-depth knowledge of her industry, she will be better prepared to make smarter decisions regarding the direction of her firm. Educational resources can be found through professional trade associations that are geared toward her industry, her local chamber of commerce as well as the Small Business Administration.
Physical Resources: Premises and Equipment
Whether a small home business or a retail operation with multiple locations, every organization must have the appropriate physical resources to survive. This includes a proper workspace, working telephone line, adequate information systems, and effective marketing materials. This aspect of business planning can be one of the costliest. As such, it is important for an entrepreneur to realistically assess his needs before making any purchases.
Emotional Resources: Support Systems
Starting a business can be an extremely stressful endeavor for an entrepreneur to undertake. To maintain her sanity as well as stay motivated, it is important she has a support team that can give her inspiration and guidance as needed. This team may be composed of friends and family as well as a mentor or professional group.
Startup Grind
Billed as one of the largest startup communities in the world, Startup Grind brings together more than 400,000 entrepreneurs in 85 countries and 200 cities. The community offers a network of resources, which include events, partnerships with organizations like Google for Entrepreneurs and media opportunities. There are also local community events that help entrepreneurs meet up with others for face-to-face assistance and connection.
That assistance includes ways to reach out to talent, innovators, investors and educators. Startup Grind started in 2010 in Silicon Valley and has grown, to offer online and offline opportunities for tapping into some very important resources and opportunities for funding.
Global Accelerator Network
Gan.co, or GAN, is an incredible resource for startups comprised of more than 70 accelerators across six continents and 100 cities. GAN offers a way for startups to benefit from short-term, mentorship-based programs that help them launch in a smart, strategic way.
Started in 2010 by two co-founders of TechStars, this network has helped 3,300 companies complete their GAN program as well as raise more than $4 billion across the globe to fuel these companies and create nearly 22,000 new jobs. Startups enjoy access to best practices, industry data, discounts and perks, consulting, investors, peers and mentors.
Udemy
Similar to Coursera, Udemy is another excellent resource for learning about all types of subjects and acquiring the necessary skills so businesses do not have to invest their lean funding in additional staff to handle those projects. This global marketplace of learning offers more than 42,000 courses and a network of more than 14 million students. Numerous certifications are also available.
Clarity
Clarity is an organization geared to providing access to mentors and experts that can help entrepreneurs in specific areas. Users can browse for experts by topics such as business strategy, marketing, social media, strategic planning, SEO and business development, to name a few. Users then select their expert and connect directly with them to get answers and advice. This is a great way to tap directly into an area founders are unfamiliar with, to get the assistance needed, rather than hire someone full time to do the same thing.
Coursera
If you’re looking for a convenient, affordable way to expand your own knowledge and skill set as well as that of anyone you hire, Coursera will connect you to the world’s universities and their best online courses. There are numerous specialties available, including machine learning, Python, data science and a wide range of other very relevant topics and courses to assist today’s startup founders.
Prices range from $25 to $99, making this a very affordable way to expand knowledge and skills within a typical startup founder’s budget. Online degrees and certifications are also available, depending on what you are looking to achieve.
Growthority
Growthority is a growth-hacking service that helps startups by taking over the early stages of growth for them. It’s akin to an outsourcing service for growth, where startups have a team that can handle online marketing and technical skills as well as provides other knowledge necessary to help build the business into something larger, with the traction needed to continue the momentum.
Starting a business can be daunting, but many people open successful businesses each year. Those who do succeed typically spend significant time raising capital, doing market research and developing a realistic business plan before launching their new company. Of course, careful preparation isn’t an absolute guarantee of success, but it can improve your chances enormously. Take stock of your resources and be prepared to meet the challenges you’ll encounter.