Other Helpful Websites for Encore Entrepreneurs
This page provides links to sites on the web that provide free materials that can be helpful to encore entrepreneurs and other small business owners.
The Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration has been at the forefront of promoting the term "encore entrepreneur." As you might expect, therefore, they have a bevy of tools and articles aimed at helping people start new businesses at mid-career or beyond. This includes a self-paced online video tutorial on starting a new business.
The web site also contains an interactive online system for developing a business plan. And a series of video tutorials on writing a business plan. This is supplemented by an extensive array of written tutorials on such topics as business planning and mastering the finances of a small business.
If you visit no other location on the Small Business Administration site, be sure to look at 20 Questions You Should Ask Before Starting a Business.
AARP Encore Entrepreneur Information
Given its target community of adults 50 and older, it's no surprise that AARP would be taking a lead in encouraging Encore Entrepreneurship. They are now sponsoring a joint initiative with the Small Business Administration in which SBA will make dozens of tutorials directly available on the AARP web site. And in 2013 AARP and the Small Business Administration launched an annual observance of Encore Entrepreneurs month, which includes workshops across the nation.
Currently the materials from the Small Business Administration are only partially deployed on the AARP web site. But independent of the Small Business Administration Administration the site has a number of helpful materials on starting a business, including guidance on developing a marketing plan.
The acronym SCORE originally stood for the Service Corps of Retired Executives. It is a privately-funded non-profit agency that works closely with the Small Business Administration.
Drawing on the mentoring skills of retired executives, SCORE is singularly dedicated to helping startups and small businesses succeed. In addition to its one-on-one mentoring program, SCORE provides a myriad of resources on its web site.
The site has a specific section for encore entrepreneurs (whom they refer to as 50+ volunteers). They have an large library of tools and templates for writing business plans, doing competitive analysis, forecasting the startup costs and the cash flow of a new business, and a forecasting sales. Templates are generally downloadable in both a PDF or a Word document, with the exception of financial templates, which are in an Excel format.
If you are looking for web-based guidance on writing the elements of a business plan, you should visit this site. On a single page it brings together the essentials you need to understand in putting together a well-designed business plan.
Along the left side of the page is the outline of a complete business plan, broken into 13 sections (some of which you will probably not need) and dozens of sub-sections. When you click on any section or sub-section, a description of that element of the business plan is displayed, with specific instructions on how to complete it.
Because it is so compact, yet so detailed, this is a handy one-stop reference to rely on as you put your business plan together.
