Starting a Small Business

Useful Web Sites

• Business Quick Guide
  A quick and easy online quide to 150 non-profit agencies offering business development assistance to the 10-county region of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Created by The Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, Duquesne University’s Small Business Development Center and Small Business Councils.
• Pennsylvania Get Your Business Online
  Pennsylvania Get Your Business Online is designed to make it easy, free and fast for any business to get online.
• Pittsburgh Business Times
• Yahoo's Small Business Information
  Provides hundreds of classified and selected links to a wide array of internet resources for small businesses.
• Research Databases: Business
  Find magazine, newspaper and journal articles about starting a small business, business planning, marketing, and stories about the successes, failures, and techniques of individual business. Use company databases to identify competitors or potential customers. You can also use many of these databases at home with your library card.
• Business Plans & Profiles Index
  Locate a sample business plan or profile for your specific business (some are in print on our shelves, and some just a click away.) Includes links or citations to over 800 sample plans.
• SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives), Pittsburgh Chapter
  Provides free and confidential business counseling for starting and growing a small business. SCORE counselors are located at 411 Seventh Ave. Suite 1450. Call 412 395-6560 to make an appointment.
• Small Business Contact Directory
  Lists the most important contacts (phone and website) for local entrepreneurs in these categories:
  • Licenses, Permits, Regulations
  • Business & Market Information
  • Business Tax Information
  • Entrepreneurial Assistance
  • Financing Assistance
  • Export Assistance
  • Minorities & Women
  • Accounting or Legal Assistance

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"How To" Publications

• The Pennsylvania Dept. of Community and Economic Development
  Entrepreneur's Guide to Starting and Growing a Business in Pennsylvania
  The complete guide to starting a business in Pennsylvania. Provides detailed information about free services, checklists, helpful tips and licensing procedures along with address, telephone and website for each partner organization. Call 1-866-GO-NEWPA to receive a copy of the Guide.
• Pennsylvania Department of Revenue
  Starting a Business in Pennsylvania: A Beginner's Guide
  This practical guide covers business registration, ein numbers, record keeping, financial and tax matters. Copies of this publication are available at Downtown & Business.
• Pennsylvania Department of State Corporation Bureau
  A Guide to Business Registration in Pennsylvania
  This guide explains the different legal entities available to register as a business in Pennsylvania, outlines the steps in the registration process, and discusses fees and filing procedures. Available online only.
• U.S. Small Business Administration
  SBA Small Business Resource Western PA
  This resource provides general guidelines for starting a business, and details about the multitude of SBA programs that support business development and financing, along with the local contacts needed to make use of them. Copies of this publication are available at Downtown & Business.

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Further Topics

Further topics for start-ups and existing businesses:

• Demographics
• Government Contracts (Procurement)
• Special Populations