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The Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration - SBA- helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. Throughout its history, the SBA and its sponsored organizations have helped small business owners gain skills required to start, manage and grow small enterprise. Whether you are looking for assistance for  a start-up, resale, franchise, loans, business plans, marketing or general business education, there is free or minimal cost assistance available.

In the Resource Directory of Small Business Management, there are publications related to financial management, , planning, marketing, business plans, personnel management, crime prevention, etc.  The publications are now available for downloading on the SBA's website

www.sba.gov/library/pubs.html 

Service Core of Retired Executives - SCORE - www.score.org

SCORE is a non-profit volunteer association sponsored by the SBA. The association matches volunteer business-management counselors with clients in need of expert advise in virtually every area of business management. Most SCORE counselors are retired business owners or managers, although some are still actively employed. Counseling is provided both for present and prospective small business owners.

There are 22 SCORE offices scattered around the state of Wisconsin. Check out the SCORE website for an office near you; www.score.org .Every effort is made to match a client's need with a counselor who is experienced in a compatible line of business or has had experience in your particular area of inquiry.  All individual and team counseling is free.  SCORE also provides workshops and seminars for a nominal fee. Contact your local SCORE office for a schedule.

SCORE also provides counseling over the Internet. Business owners are now turning to technology of the web to fulfill their needs for information and advise. Over 100,000 counseling sessions are conducted via e-mail each year. Check out their website and take advantage of a cybercounselor who best suits your individual needs.

Small Business Development Center - SBDC

SBDCs provide managerial and technical assistance to start-up and existing businesses. There are 13 Small Business Development Centers strategically located throughout Wisconsin. These campus based centers bring together the resources of university, private sector and government. The SBDCs specialize in providing direct one-on-one counseling on small business problems and training. Many of the campus centers offer classes on business plans, idea evaluation, franchising, etc. Generally, the classes and training provided by the SBDC is more advance than the classes offered by SCORE.

For more information and/or assistance, contact the SBDC center closets to you. To find the nearest campus center go to www.sba.gov/sbdc/index.html .

Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation - WWBIC - www.WWBIC.com

With offices in Milwaukee and Madison, The Wisconsin Women's Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) is an economic development corporation providing quality business education, technical assistance and access to capital for entrepreneurs. Available to men and women, WWBIC consults, educates and mentors owners of small and micro businesses throughout Wisconsin. They concentrate their efforts on women, people of color and those of lower incomes.

WWBIC has a full schedule of classes Business Planning, Finance/Money Management, Mangement/Operations and Technology/Internet.  Check out their website for a class schedule.

Since its inception, WWBIC has served over 20,000 individuals, directly financed over 500 business start-ups, supported over 150 business expansions and assisted in creating over 1,250 jobs in Wisconsin. Each year, WWBIC increases its impact across the state through the hard work of a 20-person staff and a corps of dedicated volunteers.

WWBIC receives money from the SBA’s Micro Loan Program and its Office of Women's Business Ownership (OWBO). OWBO provides programs to support women entrepreneurs from business start-up to expansion through a variety of services and resources. To find out more about OWBO, log into their home page at www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness.

Wisconsin Entrepreneurial Network (WEN) www.wenportal.org