Export.gov is a comprehensive portal put together by the US Department of Commerce. There are well researched papers on each country and industry sector by professionals in the field. The secret of many expensive consultants is that they download the information available on this site and package it nicely and charge you big fees. Get it here for free. This website is an excellent way to begin your due diligence in determining what regions of the world you would like focus upon, and learning the benefits and risks of international trade.
The Center for US-China Technology, Innovation and Development
China Tech Zone powered by USITO
U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation
U.S. Department of Commerce
Washington DC Technology Council
For the Home page in any state – replace the xx with your state two letter designation
www.state.xx.us
Financing, business plans, etc.
www.sba.gov
www.score.org
www.vfinance.com (Venture capital resource library)
www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm (Review up to 60 business plans)
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT010957771033.aspx (22 Financial Templates)
Access to all government sites
www.firstgov.com
Federal Domestic Assistance – grants and other non-government grant sources
http://12.46.245.173/cfda/cfda.html
http://www.sba.gov/sbir/indexsbir-sttr.html
http://www.sba.gov/expanding/grants.html
http://fdncenter.org
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants
http://www.escus.org
http://www.guidestar.org
www.grantwriters.com
Law Advice Sources
http://www.businesslaw.gov/
www.freeadvice.com
www.nolo.com
www.businesslaw.gov
Small Business Administration On-Line Library – Download helpful business booklets
www.sba.gov/library/pubs.html
Guide for foreign-born residents – visas, relocation, immigration, INS, Customs, etc.
http://www.foreignborn.com/
Small Business sites, marketing plans and ideas, contracts, agreements, incorporate on-line
http://www.aarpsmallbiz.com
www.morebusiness.com
www.smalltownmarketing.com
www.soho.org
www.allbusiness.com
www.ideacafe.com
www.improvemybusiness.com
http://smallbusiness.sbc.yahoo.com/resources
www.corporate.com (Incorporation site)
Finding Asian manufacturers and/or products and Outsourcing
www.globalsources.com
www.alibaba.com
http://www.ezgoal.com/outsourcing/
http://www.outsourcing-center.com/
http://www.vendorseek.com/
www.outsourcing.com
Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights including good FAQ’s list
www.uspto.gov
http://www.inta.org/info/faqs.html
http://www.copyright.gov
Library of Congress
www.loc.gov
Export Regulations, Partners, Contacts
Establish contacts, register and conduct global business – Dep’t of Commerce
http://www.myexports.com
www.exportimportlaw.com
U. S. Commercial Service Office locations – export assistance
Global Listing of trade events. Export marketing research and tools
www.usatrade.gov
International e-commerce, cross border business, guide to B2B international markets
http://globaledge.msu.edu
http://www.emarketservices.com
Excellent reference site for all International trade – sign up for free bi-weekly newsletter
http://www.fita.org/webindex
http://fita.org/tools/index.html
Free export/import law assistance
www.exportimportlaw.com
Tariff & Tax Information
http://www.ita.doc.gov/td/tic/tariff/
Four Good Business Plan Outline Sites
http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.html
http://www.inc.com/guides/write_biz_plan/
http://www.business-plan.com/outline.html
http://www.inc.com/guides/start_biz/20660.html
More good web sites
www.smallbusiness.yahoo.com
www.bizstats.com (Small business profitability)
www.smallbizbooks.com (Guide book by business type)
www.entreworld.com (Quick facts and resources)
www.toolkit.cch.com (Business Owner’s Tool Kit)
www.startupjournal.com (Wall Street Journal Small Business site)
www.thomasregister.com (American manufacturers)
http://www.smetoolkit.org/ (Excellent free business tools)
Create a web site to market your products
www.smallbusiness.yahoo.com (Some costs involved including transaction fees – highly rated for startups)
Lists over 173,000 American & Canadian manufacturers, many on-line catalogs
http://www.thomasregister.com
Partnerships and How to Form them
http://www.vakilno1.com/howto/partnership/contentspartnership.htm
http://www.ehow.com/how_1842_form-partnership.html
Small Business Guide to Importing and Exporting
http://www.iexportimport.com/resources/main.htm
Venture Capital Sources and Angel Investors
http://www.fastangels.com/ (Technology investments only)
http://www.inc.com/articles/2001/09/23461.html (INC Directory of Angel Investors)
http://www.vcfv.com/
http://www.privateequitycentral.net/splash.cfm
http://www.vfinance.com/home.asp?ToolPage=venca.asp
http://www.cardinalfund.com/links_venture_capital.asp
http://www.vcaonline.com/
http://www.angelcapitalassociation.org/dir_directory/directory.aspx
Non-Profit Organizations
www.nonprofits.org/npofaq/ A long list of frequently asked questions
Outsourcing Services
http://www.ezgoal.com/outsourcing/
http://www.outsourcing-center.com/
http://www.vendorseek.com/
http://www.blogsource.org/
International Cultural and Etiquette Information
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/country-profiles.html
Demographics and databases
http://www.melissadata.com/Lookups/
Limited Liability Companies and Single Person LLC’s (primarily CA info)
http://www.ss.ca.gov/business/llc/llc_faq.htm
Read summaries of business books before you purchase
http://www.summary.com/
Free 16 page Guide to Exporting
http://www.unzco.com/basicguide/toc.html
Free How-To Guides for Small Business
http://www.entrepreneur.com/howto/0,5967,,00.html
Small Market Business Research (free from Microsoft)
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/resources/marketing/market-research.mspx?xid=OVPI555
Alternative lending sources - borrow money from individuals not banks
www.prosper.com
www.zopa.com
Excellent free marketing newsletter
www.actionplan.com
