Starting a Business

So... you want to start your own business, be self-employed and/or work out of your home. Maybe you want to sell your own art, you’ve just begun a day-care business, or you want to launch a home-based e-business. In any case, you have a great idea. Now you need some help to work out finances, taxes, legalities, permits, health insurance, marketing, and other smart business elements. Whether your concept is high tech or home-grown, careful planning is essential.

Help is available! Several organizations offer free advice and services to established and emerging entrepreneurs. Also, the Internet houses a great deal of useful information. Below are links to a few local organizations and other resources that can help you craft a business plan, learn about financing opportunities, receive one-on-one counseling and more - before you leap into the world of owning your own business. Good luck!

Local Organizations
The Civic Innovation Lab is a project funded by The Cleveland Foundation, offering mentorship, training, networking, visibility and funding, of up to $30,000, for ideas that have a measurable and tangible economic impact on the Greater Cleveland community.

COSE is the Small Business division of the Greater Cleveland Partnership, the largest private-sector economic development organization in Ohio and one of the largest metropolitan chambers of commerce in the nation.

NEO 411 Biz helps entrepreneurs locate and access the best resources to assist them as they start and build their businesses. Their mission is to serve as the conduit between the entrepreneurial community and regional small business service providers, ensuring that the needs of Northeast Ohio entrepreneurs are met.

SCORE offers free business counseling and low-cost business seminars for business owners and those who are considering opening a business. You can also receive free business advice online. For one-on-one appointments, contact the local chapters listed below.

• Akron SCORE
• Canton SCORE
• Cleveland SCORE

The WECO Fund offers The MicroEnterprise Program, an opportunity for low to moderate-income entrepreneurs in Cuyahoga County to secure business financing and technical support. WECO targets the "pre-bankable" market – people to whom the banks will not consider loaning money, yet who have the necessary ambition, skills and work ethic to develop a successful business that within a few years may employ other individuals. The activities of the ME Program include loan application workshops, training, technical assistance and loan services. The training and technical assistance is conducted via class sessions and one-on-one counseling. Business Plan Writing classes focus on producing a business plan that will support small business development and success as well as addressing existing barriers for entrepreneurs.

Informational Resources

• 90.3 WCPN's Special Report: How to Start Your Own Business
• 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy: Entrepreneurship
• Cleveland Public Library: Entrepreneurship Links
• COSE: How to Start your own Business
• Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
• The Ohio Society of CPAs: Small Businesses

Youth Entrepreneurship
E CITY’s mission is to teach entrepreneurship to low-income young people in the Cleveland area by improving their academic, business, technology and life skills so that they can become economically productive members of society and break the cycle of poverty in their communities. For a 90.3 WCPN report about E CITY, click here.

Minority Entrepreneurship

• Center for the Study and Development of Minority Business at Kent State University
• Cleveland 365: Business and Technology
• Consortium of African American Organizations

Women Entrepreneurship

• National Association of Women Business Owners, Cleveland Chapter

State and Federal Government

• Ohio Department of Development
• United States Small Business Association (SBA), Cleveland SBA Office

Support for MoneyWatch is made possible by Charter One Foundation. Research assistance for MoneyWatch is from Cleveland State University Nance College of Business Administration