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The SBA: The Small Business Owner’s Gateway to Government

If you haven’t investigated what the Small Business
Administration can do for your company, you might be
missing out on a valuable and, in some cases, lucrative
resource.

by Tamara E. Holmes NFIB.com

Established in 1953 under the administration of
President Eisenhower, the SBA was charged with
protecting the interests of small businesses. While the
agency has headquarters in Washington, D.C., local SBA
offices are dispersed throughout the country. You can
find a list of locations and phone numbers at the SBA’s
Web site, http://www.sba.gov.

For companies in the early stages of growing their
business, the SBA lays out the steps entrepreneurs
should take to get their firms up and running, such as
securing necessary business licenses. Among the
resources on its Web site are tips for figuring out
start-up costs, guides for estimating business taxes
and suggestions for financing a small business.

Even if your business has been up and running for some
time, the SBA has training programs that can guide you
toward expansion. For example, the Entrepreneurial
Business Institute, found at
http://www.sba.gov/training/aboutus.html, is a Web-based
interactive learning environment that offers small
business owners free online classes on such topics as
management, marketing and e-commerce.

The online courses aren’t the only SBA source of
helpful information. Peppered throughout the agency’s
Web site are articles and instructions on topics such
as thinking strategically, confronting change and
maintaining business ethics.

The SBA is also a source of funding. Loan programs
exist for both start-up businesses and long-existing
companies that meet certain criteria. The Web site
features an interactive guide that helps you determine
whether or not your business will qualify for an SBA
loan.

A number of SBA-sponsored grants and programs exist for
small business owners. Among them are the 8(a) Business
Development Program, which sets aside federal contracts
for minority and other categories of businesses; the
Procurement Preference-Goaling Program, which ensures
that small businesses get a piece of the pie when it
comes to selling products and services to the
government; and the HUBZone Empowerment Contracting
Program, which gives federal contracts to small
businesses in urban areas.

When it comes to laws affecting small businesses, the
SBA is particularly helpful. Its Office of Advocacy
represents small businesses when new regulations are
proposed that would affect them. Located online at
http://www.sba.gov/advo, it also a good place to find
statistics pertaining to small businesses in the United
States if you’re compiling business strategy research.

The Office of the National Ombudsman is where small
business owners can send comments on any concerns they
may have pertaining to business and government. The
Ombudsman, whose online presence can be found at
http://www.sba.gov/ombudsman, also rates how well federal
regulatory offices enforce small business laws each
year.

For information on the specific federal and state laws
that affect small business owners, you can check out
the SBA’s http://www.BusinessLaw.gov Web site. There you can also
find tools for complying with federal guidelines, such
engines for applying for a Federal Employment
Identification Number and determining visa
classifications for foreign workers.

Running a small business requires knowledge of a wealth
of information outside of the landscape of the products
or services your business provides. The SBA puts much
of that information at your fingertips.

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