1. Select which of these four steps best describes where you are.

2. Hyperlink the step where you want to be.
Then go back and work through the issues set out in the step before it.

3. Read the stories of people who have been where you currently are,
and they have gone where you want to go.

If you already have a business with an employee, go on to Steps 5 to 8,
but be sure to review Step 4. If you find it helpful, review Step 3, and so on right back to Step 1.

Checklist to Start

  1. Business Basics. These are excerpts from several shows.
      Read at least the first three short chapters.

  2. From an idea to reality. Check to see how original your idea is.

• US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO).
• USPTO Applications & Forms.
• National Patent Assocation.
• The Patent & Trademark Law Center.
• US Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

• Write a business plan, check out your financing options (from savings, to family, to suppliers), make financial projections, and think about how you will develop your identity or brand.
• Surround yourself with good people. Begin to create a Board of Advisors.
• Develop a strategy for marketing, selling and supporting.
• Set up a low-cost website. Get your own unique WWW address. Reserve a name today. You can buy a server for less than $500 and put it up on your DSL line. It can also be used for a telephone/fax line and to do product / market research on the web!

In Business Basics you learn that you can:

• start from scratch (like most of us),
• inherit a business,
• buy an existing business or
• buy a franchise.

If you are not sure what business you should be in, please read the first chapter of Hattie's book, Beating the Odds on this web site. You should take that little quiz to see if you have the mind and attitudes of an entrepreneur.

If you just watched Small Business School on your local public television station, you heard an entrepreneur describe his or her business and how it has grown. If the show inspired you to take action on a business idea that you've had for years, we ask you to do the following:

• Thank your local public television manager. There are just 126 good programmable hours a week and each of these program managers are offered over 500 hours of programming. It is an honor to be on public television, but they would like to know that you are watching. There is very little Nielsen rating information. Just call your station and ask for viewer feedback. You could even send them a little email; a link to most stations can be found here.
• Send a little Thank you note to the business owner who inspired you. If you remember the name of the owner or the name of the business, there is usually a physical address and an email address within the overview/summary page for that episode of the show.
• We would also enjoy hearing from you. Please share your suggestions and comments; if you give us permission, we will be glad to add your comments to our viewers' response or as a comment on one of the shows!
• Also, these shows are made possible by our sponsors. If you could in some way send them a note of thanks, we would be very pleased.

If you ever need help in their area of expertise, please visit their web sites. They want to help small and growing businesses succeed.

Also, we recommend that you visit some of the web sites listed below that will help you find local resources and support groups -- the US SBA (Small Business Administration), the US Chamber of Commerce, SBA Small Business Development Centers (usually at your local university or college), a business incubator, or a volunteer (Service Corps of Retired Executives). With SCORE you can also arrange for free, one-on-one consultation regarding your idea. Their number is: 1-800-634-0245. Please let them know that Small Business School sent you!

Be sure to join us backstage. This place will always be under construction -- it is always being reworked -- so we welcome your ideas and comments.

If you would like to learn even more, then please order the book and have Hattie autograph it for you, your spouse, friend or child.

Good resources to start and later grow your business:

• Stories about family business.
• Business Brokers to guide buying an existing business. (There are millions of references to business brokers on the net and thousands of businesses for sale. You may want to check with one of the regional associations to guide you.)
• Franchise Associations. (There are over 1000s of references to franchise associations on the net. If you are going global, you might want to look at Entrepreneur Magazine.
• US Postal Service Business Centers
• Links to various activities of the US Small Business Administration including their Small Business Development Center Program.