December 17, 2017 • Resources
Starting a new business can be a daunting prospect. Fortunately, you can find a great amount of help for free from the local and state governments as well as business associations. These groups have loads of information, advice, and even step-by-step instructions.
Local Resources for Your Small Business
Utah.gov
For help with starting a small business, the Utah.gov website offers links to help self-assess your business idea, writing business plans, human resource assistance, financial resources, counseling, and more. This is an excellent starting point for starting your new business.
Furthermore, the Utah.gov website also offers information for all types and sizes of businesses.
Utah Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration has a Utah district website that will connect you to local development centers, online training, and other learning opportunities in your community for your new business.
Utah Small Business Administration
Utah Small Business Development Center
The Utah Small Business Development Center helps you identify your money needs and options, your new business market, and provides no-cost business counseling.
Utah Trademark Manager
Trademarks and service marks may be registered at the state level. Thus it’s important to become familiar with the rules for registering your trademark at the state level.
Search for Utah Trademarks and Service Marks
National Resources for Small Business
U.S. Small Business Administration
The U.S. Small Business Administration was founded in 1953 to “aid, counsel, assist and protect” the small businesses. While the SBA is well known for it’s role in connecting entrepreneurs to lenders and funding, they also provide free information on their website to help small businesses. This includes advice on starting a business, writing business plans, marketing, and more.
IRS Small Business Portal
As the saying goes, “Nothing is certain except for death and taxes,” so be sure to look at the information the IRS provides for the self-employed or your new business.
Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center
National Federation of Independent Businesses
The National Federation of Independent Businesses represent hundreds of thousands of small businesses. You will find over a thousand free articles on wide-ranging topics specifically written for the small business owner, though you will need to pay an annual due to take full advantage of the associations benefits.
SCORE
In partnership with the SBA, SCORE provides free confidential business education and mentoring. On their website, you can get assistance finding a mentor, view webinars, register for workshops, and get templates and guides. However, some of the workshops do have a fee, and there is a registration process for the webinars.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
The USPTO is the federal agency for granting U.S. Patents and registering trademarks.
Meet the author
- David Kerr
- Licensed in Utah
- 3852758020
David’s passion and commitment to the startup community started in 2004 while he was finishing his engineering degree at Brigham Young University. He took his first job in the technology industry when he took his first job software engineering job. Since then, he’s worked as an engineer, analyst, coordinator, project manager, and consultant. During this time, he observed and worked with various startups.
After he finished law-school, David saw that the legal industry failed, and even hindered the startup community. David started Utah Startup Legal Counsel to innovate new ways to meet the legal needs of startups.