Starting a Business For Dummies, 4th Edition

Chapter 7

Getting Help

In This Chapter

Locating help and advisory agencies

Exploring incubators

Inspiring inventors

Getting help for younger entrepreneurs

The fact that you’ve decided to start up your own business doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself. Even if you’ve rejected the idea of taking on a partner or going into a franchise chain, you can still get expert help and advice with nearly every aspect of your business before you start up, while you’re starting up and even long after you’ve established your enterprise.

In taking outside help and advice, you’re in good company. Each working day over 12,000 people use the services of a small business advisory organisation. Most are simple telephone enquiries, but others involve face-to-face counselling sessions. Several hundred organisations are specifically concerned with providing help, advice and resources (including finance) for small businesses and those starting them. For the most part, these services are provided free or at a low cost, at least at the outset.

Many of these organisations have been set up, or at least ...