How to Start a Business: Resources for Everything You Need to Know

Consider this your business startup resources library! Here you’ll find links to everything you need to know about starting, funding, marketing and running your own business. Whether you’re still working your day job while dreaming of a new solo endeavor, looking for small business ideas, about to go freelance, or you’re ready to put your business plan into action, the QuickBooks Community is here to help you every step of the way.

If you don’t see what you’re looking for here, tell us in the comments and chances are our super helpful and knowledgeable Community members will point you in the right direction.

Oh, and congrats on doing your self-employment research! You can feel good knowing that you’re already succeeding in your venture by self-education and engaging with others who’ve been there!

HOW TO BE SELF-EMPLOYED 101

These articles will take you through the general thoughts, planning and actions of becoming a new business owner, working for yourself or going freelance.

• How to Be Self-Employed Part 1: Taking the Leap
• How to Be Self-Employed Part 2: Launching Your Business
• How to Be Self-Employed Part 3: Growing Your Business
• What Made Me Decide to Work for Myself

DEFINE YOUR BUSINESS

You opened a business because you saw a unique niche in the market, now let’s figure out exactly what you do. The better you define and know your business from the start, the better foundation you’re laying for everything that comes after -- marketing, selling, customer service, growing...you get the idea!

• How to Rock the 9 Sections of a Typical Business Plan
• Branding for Beginners: 7 Tips to Attract Your Dream Client
• Do You Need a Business Plan?
• Can You Deliver an Elevator Pitch in 8 Seconds?
• Try This: The Morning Ritual
• Defining Your Main Goal
• Let's Do the Math: Your Target Number
• That's Some Next Level Poetry: Sekou Andrews Will Make You Laugh...and Think
• Tool Kit: Your 10-Minute Business Planner
• 6 Entrepreneurs Explain Why Having a Mentor Helps Them Succeed in Business
• 5 Tips for Finding the Right Business Coach for YOU
• Julie Gordon White Uses Scalable Systems to Grow Businesses to $1M+

FUNDING YOUR BUSINESS

Whether you bootstrap (start with nothing), take out loans, invest your savings or crowdfund to get your biz off the ground, one thing is for certain -- you need some capital to get humming. These articles have ideas for how to do just that. 

• Financing 101: Our Guide for Getting Started
• FInancial Literacy Basics When You’re Looking for Funding
• How to Launch a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
• Talk Like a Girl: 6 Tips for Speaking Confidently (Even to a Room Full of Men)
• 6 Successful Small Businesses That Started At Their Local Markets
• From $0 to $150,000: The Startup Budgets of 7 Entrepreneurs
• Crowdfunding with Kickstarter: Lessons Learned from Adam and Shaun Lee of Bohemian Guitars
• You Said It! Community Member Danielle Vincent on Crowdfunding
• Where Are They Now? 8 Eco-Minded Crowdfunded Businesses
• 6 Organizations Helping LGBT-Owned Businesses Reach New Heights
• When Women Invest in Women-Owned Businesses, It’s a Win-Win
• QuickBooks Resource Center

PRICE WHAT YOU SELL

One of the biggest puzzles to solve for the independently employed is the price point at which to sell your products or services. These articles will help you figure out what your goods are worth and you’ll learn helpful strategies from other business owners.

• Pricing 101: 4 Strategies to Help You Charge What You’re Worth
• How to Develop, Price, and Sell Advisory Services
• Value pricing: How to Price Accounting Services
• 10 Entrepreneurs Share How They Price Their Goods

GET CUSTOMERS & CLIENTS

How do you attract people to buy what you sell? These articles are a wealth of ideas for finding new customers and keeping the regular ones with clever marketing tactics and ideas for excellent customer service.

• Getting Customers: Three Ways Your First Customer Can Help You
• Getting Customers: How to Get Free Marketing and Rave Reviews
• Getting Customers: Four Tactics to Help Your Customer Base Soar
• 8 Small Biz Owners on How They Get New Customers
• How to Keep Customers Smiling Even When Things Go Wrong
• Why “Authentic Alignment” Is a Winning Business Strategy
• Julie Gordon White On Building a Powerful Brand Without Using Your Own Name
• Are You Building a Business Or a Brand?
• Julie Gordon White: 5 Hot Tips for Turning Your Biz Into a Brand Worth Big Bucks

MARKET YOUR BUSINESS

Let’s shout it from the rooftops! You’re open for business! These articles will guide you toward implementing and establishing a marketing strategy that works for you.

• 9 Tips for Upping Your Social Media Marketing Game
• How 7 Entrepreneurs Use Instagram to Market Their Businesses
• 10 Cool Marketing Ideas to Heat Up Summer Sales
• 9 Hacks, Tutorials and Tips for Leveraging the Heck Out of Your Social Media
• Getting Customers: Four Tactics to Help Your Customer Base Soar
• The Basics of Creating a Great Business Website
• 5 Common Small Biz Marketing Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
• Diggi Thomson Says “Spontaneous” Public Speaking Takes Real Preparation

UNDERSTAND BUSINESS & FINANCIAL TERMS

Understanding your business financials is one of the biggest (and sometimes most dreaded) parts of operating your own thing, but we believe that you can do it! These articles will introduce you to the basics of self-employed finances and teach you a few new terms to use at your next pitch meeting.

• Financial Literacy for Entrepreneurs: A Road Map
• Financial Literacy Basics When You’re Just Starting Out
• 22 Financial Terms Every Business Owner Should Know
• What the Heck is ‘Proof of Concept’ & 10 Other Startup Terms Defined
• Tool Kit: 6 Key Financial Equations
• Tool Kit: 3 Worksheets to Make It Easier to Track Your Finances
• 8 Smart Tips on Dealing With Self-Employed Taxes From a Bookkeeper
• How I Hired a Nanny and Became a Household Employer in 8 Steps

MANAGE YOUR MONEY

Carefully and accurately managing your money from the get-go will help you avoid costly mistakes in the future. Check out these articles for smart tips and strategies about some of your important money matters.

• Money Matters: How to Track Your Cash – and Keep It Flowing
• Money Matters: Boost Your Cash Flow In Three Simple Steps
• Money Matters: Your Balance Sheet Is a Truth Serum For How You Run Your Business

GET PAID

Passion and commitment may have fueled your decision to start your own business, but cold hard cash is critical to keeping the doors open. The best way to get paid on time, every time for your products or services? Learn how to make the most of every invoice.

• The Mighty Invoice: How to Put this Powerful Tool to Work
• Invoicing: Make Every Invoice Work Faster and Better Than Ever Before
• Invoicing: Frustrated by Late Payments? Some Tips for Tracking Down Your Dollars

LEARN FROM ESTABLISHED ENTREPRENEURS

Sometimes the best way to learn a new skill is to hear the stories of those who’ve gone before you and, oh boy, do we have a deep bench when it comes to knowledge from experienced business owners. Be inspired, learn from their wins and fails, ask your questions and maybe even find a mentor!

• 9 Hot Tips for New Entrepreneurs from Successful Business Owners
• 7 Entrepreneurs Talk About the First Days of Their Business
• 9 Entrepreneurs on What They’d Do Differently If They Started Over Again
• 6 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started My Business
• What She Said: Straight Talk From 16 Women Entrepreneurs
• Meet 8 Awesome African-American Entrepreneurs in the QB Community
• Browse Profiles of Business Owners