Equipment for Entrepreneurs

Today's web-based world has ample opportunity for you to get going on that business you've always dreamed of starting. But where to begin?

The good news: there's also a ton of information available to help you succeed.

Many are paid services, but two of the best offer some great free services and have plenty of information available on their websites.

Startupnation is the place to turn to get your company off the ground. By entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, the site features advice on creating your business plan and choosing a business model, along with articles, podcasts, a blog, and more. Perhaps most valuable is the community of users, providing you the opportunity to learn from other entrepreneurs.

Once your new money-printing machine is off the ground, turn to MyNewCompany.com for all kinds of goodies to help you take it to the next level. From managing your brand, to hiring employees, to balancing your books, this site has the (free!) resources to help you do it all.

Honourable mention goes to Entrepreneur.com, which has some great information but is a bit cluttered and full of ads. Still a good resource, though.

Good luck!

The One-Stop Shop...

...for all things business: CEOExpress.com. This site has links to everything a busy business executive (or student) could want and more. International news, business magazines, academic papers, market information, small business resources, company research tools, and government websites are all there at your finger tips.

There are even links for your business travel and for your "break time"... read: cars, sports, and online shopping. Very cool.

A few cool tools for the tech-impaired

Never heard of Firefox? Confused about what the heck Skype is?

If so, you're not alone... but you also need to get with it.

Firefox is quickly becoming the most popular browser on the web, and it's pretty clear why. Not only does it provide faster surf speeds, but it's free, has a sleek user-friendly design, and can be customized with a variety of neat gadgets. Try it, then customize your Firefox experience with these "15 Coolest Firefox Tricks Ever," found on Lifehack.org.

As for Skype, it's a web-based calling service utilizing Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology. It's like an instant messenger service (and actually includes instant messaging), but you call your contacts instead of messaging them. Totally free to download, your calls around the world won't cost you a cent, so long as you're calling computer-to-computer. Calling landlines is still dirt-cheap, though... costs vary depending on your location, but it's about 2 cents US per minute worldwide. Not too shabby.

One last freebie: Ever thought about designing your own website? Or, maybe you already do? If so, here's a great pool of resources for web design. Credit to the folks at Kayode Okeyode's Weblog for putting it together.

More neat tools to come in future posts...