Have you ever dreamed of being your own boss? Maybe you have a great idea for a new business that will strengthen the community with a beneficial product or service. If you have the dream and the idea, it’s time to get started.
TCCL now offers a new resource to help plan, launch, manage and grow your small business for the long run. The Gale Small Business Builder is a step-by-step online planning tool to help aspiring entrepreneurs and experienced small-business owners bring their dreams to life.
Ideal for self-guided business planning, the intuitive program guides users through five areas of exploration:
· Entrepreneur Profile – Entrepreneurs explore their abilities and reflect on how prepared they are to start a business.
· Business Ideation – Employ tools, such as Lean Canvas, SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces, to plan the high-level framework your business will operate.
· Break-Even Analysis – Determine when a business will be able to cover its expenses and begin to make a profit.
· Business Plans – Create a plan that can be presented to potential investors and lenders, including Lean Business Plan, Full Business Plan and Strategic Marketing Plan.
· Financial Projections – Produce a robust analysis of a company’s financial future encompassing capital expenditures, sales, equity and inventory.
Start-ups and nonprofits can use this free service to explore and learn about options, evaluate readiness and build your company’s business plan. Gale Small Business Builder works in tandem with other library resources, such as Demographics Now, which can be queried for actual numbers to plug into the plan, as well as Reference USA, which can be used to learn about your customers and competitors.
All resources are online and freely available to library card holders remotely at www.TulsaLibrary.org/database.
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