business resources

How to Write a Nonprofit Business Plan [Updated for 2021]

Writing a business plan for a nonprofit organization is a bit different than a traditional plan. Learn the differences and build a successful business plan.

85 Essential Startup Resources You Should Know About

These are the tools that we know, love, and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend—many of them we use ourselves. Use them to propel your startup into success and growth.

Crowdspring’s Free New Ebook: Advice for Starting a New Business

Our friends at crowdspring teamed up with Swyft Filings and Trademark Engine to bring Bplans' readers a free, 95-page eBook filled with actionable insights and advice, based on their collective decades in business. 

5 Things Startups Can Learn From Angel Investors

Angel investors can teach you a lot about what it takes to start a successful business. Whether you're seeking angel investment or just looking to grow a better, stronger business, they're people worth listening to—and here's their best advice for startups.

Easy Tips and Tricks to Help You Complete Your Business Plan

We've learned a few things that can make the business planning process much easier and faster. Here’s our list of tips, tricks, and resources.

Top Small Business Technology Trends of 2016

What trends will 2016 bring? We have compiled a list of 7 business technology trends for 2016 that will help drive performance and grow your small business.

Want to Know Your Chances of Securing a Loan? Use This Cheat Sheet

Here are some benchmarks that small business owners should be aware of that will give them a better idea of what lenders are looking at.

Online Tools to Make Your Small Business Life Easier 

New technology is making us faster, smarter, smaller, and more efficient. We’ve selected a few of our favorite tools to make your life easier.

5 Creative Cost Saving Ideas For Your Company

As a business owner, you’re always looking for ways to cut costs and raise your profit margin. There are some obvious ways to save money, but we wanted to generate a list of creative ways to save money, ways that even experienced business owners could benefit from.

How to Hire the Best Attorney for Your Small Business

Hiring professionals for a small business is an important process. The best attorney for your business will depend on what the legal needs are for your company. In fact, there is a good chance there is no one attorney who can handle everything, so the best attorney may actually turn out to be a law firm...

How to Engage Customers with a Killer Homepage

These days, just having a website won’t cut it. You need a sticky website—one that engages visitors, persuading them to stay on your site and explore your brand further. That simply won’t happen without a killer homepage. Think about it: Your homepage is where visitors decide if you’re worth their time—and you’ve got about six...

Top Online Financial Management Resources Recommended by Experts

As an entrepreneur, you wear all the hats of a business, even when it’s not necessarily your strong suit. If you’re not sure where to start with bookkeeping and financial management, here are some recommendations for best practices, tools and resources for financial management of large or small companies in any industry. Keep It Separate...

The Best Local Marketing Blogs to Read in 2013

Are you looking to promote your business to a local audience? Local marketing practices change constantly, and one way to keep up with the times is to find leading experts and follow their blogs. Just a few minutes a day browsing through your blog reader will help you generate new ideas, find relevant tips, and increase profits. The following blogs rank among the best in their field.

Tired of PowerPoint? Here are the best alternatives

Roughly 95 percent of slideshow presentations are still given in PowerPoint, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t evaluate other tools. We’ll run through the top alternatives and weigh the pros and cons. Google Docs Presentations A free feature in Google Docs (Trust us, it’s there; you just never use it.) If you consider yourself a...

10 Great Websites for Entrepreneurs

Whether you’re a budding business owner or an experienced hotshot, taking some time to read what’s going on in the industry is essential. The internet is filled with resources and publications dedicated to assisting you in your ventures, but you have to be able to track down the good stuff. By accessing BPlans, you’re already reading some...

Youth Entrepreneurs, Why You Should Help These Upstarts With Their Startups

I believe that children are the future… That might be the old school way to set the stage for this post, but I’m going with something a little more modern. So, paraphrasing the words that have become the soundtrack for a generation: They are young; let’s help them set the world on fire and glow...

Online Business Planning Tutorial

10 Alternatives to Business Tools You (Probably) Hate

  I’m going to offer a few alternatives to tools and services that are the cause of countless business headaches. All of these tools are made to help you work faster and think about what you’re working on rather than how you’re doing it. Revising documents by email Some of the greatest headaches I’ve experienced...

If You’re Thinking About Franchises, You Want This Book

If you’re in any way thinking about getting into a franchise business, you need to know about Joel Libava, @FranchiseKing on Twitter, thefranchiseking.com on the web, and author of Become a Franchise Owner, the best book there is on franchise ownership. I know something about franchises. I’ve never owned a franchise, neither as franchisor or franchisee;...

What Every Woman Business Owner Needs to Know to Succeed

It’s a tough world out there, no matter the industry of a business, and it takes a thick-skinned person with persistence and tenacity to be successful in any small business. For women, some of the challenges can be especially difficult. In the U.S. we have come a long way from the Women’s Right Movement in...