Seriously thinking of taking the plunge into starting your own business? Maybe you’ve been mulling over some idea for a while, or you’re fed up with working in a large, corporate structure and you’d like to strike out on your own. Well, you’re in luck. Whether you want to create the next dot com business, or open your own store or franchise or simply work from home, we have the resource to help you get there, and we offer a free seminar series to support the effort.
The Providence Public Library and its many branches house countless guides to fine-tune your business search, from the business plan you write to get you that all-important financing, to type of service or product you wish to offer. Organizations such as the Rhode Island district office of the Small Business Administration can be a vast resource to you, and we augment what they have to offer with such publications as:
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
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How to start a home-based gift basket business (Frazier, Shirley G.)
How to start a freelancing consulting business (Powers, Jacqueline K.)
Starting and building your accounting business (Fox, Jack ) to
Shoestring entrepreneur’s guide to the best home-based businesses (Spiegel, Robert,) and Franchising for Dummies (Thomas, R. David.)
If starting a business seems right to you, your next step would be to build a business plan, one that outlines your assets and opportunities and takes you step-by-step to each level. A business plan can be an operational guide and can open financial doors for you — without one your chances for success are limited. Some of the books we carry include:
The business planning guide: Creating a plan for success in your own business (Bangs, David)
How to write a business plan (McKeever, Mike) and
The successful business plan: Secrets and Strategies (Abrams, Rhoda)
The central library has the largest collection of business resources of any public library in the state, and a staff eager and waiting to assist you. We have computers with World Wide Web access; CD-ROMs, video and audiotapes; magazines and newspapers, business. From your home or office, you can look to our Web page at www.provlib.org, and link on to collections and resources and then, business resources, to access our Start-up Business Information page. That site offers additional links to organizations and business that can answer many of your questions.
If you’re ready to begin and want to hear some solid, practical advice from those who already have, come to visit our series of Saturday workshops on starting a business coming this fall. The four, consecutive Saturday workshops begin October 14 at 9:30 a.m. (and end at 12 noon) and are conducted by members of the Service Corp of Retired Executives.) The representatives will conduct sessions on the legal, marketing and financial issues of starting a business, and will answer your individual questions as well. Sessions are free of charge, but space is limited, so please call 455- 8027 to register.
