• Affordable Web Design  for small businesses, churches, and organizations 
• Text writing - Newsletters, web text and News Releases

Come work in an atmosphere that contributes to the success of the young work-at-home Mom, as well as the seasoned corporate worker-turned-entrepreneur, or the retiree venturing into online business as a supplemental income choice.

Visit our Membership Section to join this working community!

PRIVACY

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Visit some of our member sites and look for our web ring!  Click below to begin your shopping trip!

Disclaimer:

The information on these pages is meant for informational purposes only. Anyone contemplating starting a business should be aware that laws and regulations differ from place to place and year to year. To insure that your business will/is operating within legal limits of the physical area in which you operate, or on the Internet, we strongly urge you to consult an attorney, a tax specialist, and your insurance agent. Opinions stated in articles on these pages are the personal opinions of the writers, and not to be considered a guarantee of success in a business venture or as definitive expert opinions. Creative Enterprises is not responsible for any financial loss incurred in business start-up ventures or through personal dealings with any of our member businesses. Individual members are responsible for their own operations and business decisons, and are liable for their own customer service and satisfaction. Entrepreneurs are responsible for researching any business opportunities, possible expenditures associated with thoseopportunities, and legal and tax requirements. Purchases of products or programs offered through links on this site are the responsibility of the buyer alone. Although we do our best to confirm the legitimacy of products and vendors, buyers are responsible for and strongly encouraged to do their own investigation before making purchases. All information, graphics, text, and design elements on this site are the intellectual property of Creative Enterprises unless otherwise stated.

©1998-2010 Creative Enterprises

Small Business Start-Up Resource & Research Links

Sometimes all you need to find the right answer to your questions, is for someone to point the way .... so here you go . . . some pointers from The Creative Enterprises Network

Ever wonder what a search engine robot “sees” when spidering your web site?  We found a nifty little tool to show you.  Enter your URL below, along with the letters you see (sometimes it asks for 2 different sets of letters) . . . and you’ll be able to look at your site with a new perspective . . . the perspective of a search engine robot!

General Information for those who want to start a business:

SCORE Service Corps of Retired Executives -- Take advantage of the experience and expertise of business-savvy retirees who want nothing more than to help you get off to a good start. This non-profit organization has offices all over the country, and their advisor services are free of charge.

My Own Business -- --A non-profit organization dedicated to helping entrepreneurs plan for success. Everything from how to write your business plan to how to write a marketing plan and everything in between. And it's all free! This could well be the most important site you visit in your quest to build a business from the bottom up.

Small Business Development Centers -- Business guidance and support is crucial to increasing your odds of long-term success. Find counseling, training and business development specialists providing free and low-cost services in your area.

Business Owners Tool Kit -- Tools, templates, checklists and forms for small business

Veterans Business Outreach Center -- Provides business training, counseling, technical assistance, and mentoring to Veterans, Reservist, National Guard, and Active Duty business owners and start-up candidates in the Southeast Region of the USA. Funded by the SBA

Marketing and Industry Research Helps

James J. Hill Research Library -- Learn how to conduct business research more effectively using licensed databases, the Hill Library’s vast print collection, and Web resources. Classes are taught by Business Information Specialists via online meeting software.   Classes are only $20 for non-members of the Library.

Markets monitor.com provides Reports on Retail Industry, Business Research Reports, Market Research Reports, Market Segmentation, Apparel Industry Analysis.

Technical Concerns:

Cre8aSite Forums -- Kim Krause Berg created this forum to answer everything you could possibly ever want to know about designing and building an effective, user-friendly, search engine-optimized web site from scratch! Kim has been helping web site owners build better sites since the mid-90's -- she's our hero(ine)!

directNIC -- Need to find the perfect web site name? Want to register that name inexpensively, and host your web site FREE? From experience we can tell you that this company is reliable with a capital "R"! So dedicated to keeping your business online, that they even dug their heels in and stayed at work in downtown New Orleans in the middle of Hurricane Katrina! AND they answer email!

Word Tracker -- Find the "keywords" you need for your site to succeed online.

Link Popularity -- Links to your web site from other relevant sites are very important to your site rank in the search engines. If you haven't kept up with the task of getting GOOD relevant incoming links, you may want to check here to see exactly who, and how many people are linking to your site. You may have some work to do.

Search Engine Optimization Classes -- Free online classes to teach you how to optimize your web site for best possible ranking in the search engines.

Shipping your own products?

If you're going to ship products, do it the easy way . . . order supplies online, set up shipping accounts, print your own UPS labels, buy postage -- all right there in your small/home office. We've learned that knowing where to go and what to do about everything from getting boxes to saving time on shipping is a major concern for small retailers starting out -- so here you go -- lots of resource information:

US Post Office -- Everything you need to know about shipping through the Post Office. Even order free Priority & Express packing boxes and have them delivered right to you!

UPS -- Open your own UPS account to make shipping easy, whether you want to drop packages off yourself at UPS shipper, or have them picked up daily. Print your bar-coded UPS shipping labels on your own printer, complete with tracking code.

Stamps.com -- Print postage from your own printer and save time and money.

FedEX -- If you want to use FedEX for your shipments or business correspondence, you can set up your account here and arrange for pick-up service too.

Legal Concerns and Small Business Assistance:

Information on Incorporating: Incorporating.com and BizFilings.com

Small Business Administration

US Patent & Trademark Office

Federal Trade Commission -- Before you invest in any business opportunity and risk losing your money, your home, your dreams -- know who and what you are dealing with. Read these articles from the Federal Trade Commission:

• The Surge In Bogus Business Opportunities
• Steps You Can Take to Protect Yourself Against Business Opportunity Fraud
• Examples of Business Opportunity Scams
• Franchise and Business Opportunity FAQ's

Financial Resources

NOTE:  The U.S. Government does NOT offer grants to entrepreneurs (male or female) -- anyone trying to sell you information concerning getting a “GRANT” from the US Govt., is sadly misinformed (or running a scam).  But if you have an existing business and are willing to do your homework and the paperwork involved, you MAY qualify for an SBA Loan to expand your business. Check here to see if your business is a good candidate for a loan:  Small Business Administration

Angel Investors --  The non-profit Angel Capital Education Foundation (ACEF) directory of angel groups (private investors) in the U.S. and Canada, as well as other resources that may be helpful to entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, students, and entrepreneurial support organizations. 

Angel Deals -- Connecting qualified entrepreneurs and investors

Y Combinator -- Y Combinator is a new kind of venture firm specializing in funding early stage startups. We help startups through what is for many the hardest step, from idea to company. Investing mostly in software and web services, and prefer to invest in groups with a lot of technical depth.

Miscellaneous Resources if you need them:

MedSave -- Short-term medical insurance sources to get you through job-to-job benefit transition

Google Catalog Search -- Do you have a print catalog of your products? Google will scan your paper catalog and list it online at no charge.

Women’s Business Centers -- Click here for a state-by-state list of Women’s Business Centers

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