Small Business Websites

The following web sites have consistently proven to be useful for small business users and are consistently reliable.
  • BizStats 
    Free interface that lets you check your company’s profits and expenses against your industry. You can see how much you should be spending on advertising, utilities and more, based on revenues and national industry averages.
  • Business Owners' Idea Café 
    Free resources on every aspect of planning, starting, and running a successful business. Tips, user forums, sample business plans, legal and business forms and grant information are just some of the items offered.
  • Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 
    Access to a database of all federal programs available to state and local governments. It lists 15 different types of assistance; both financial and nonfinancial.
  • Cyberdrive Illinois  
    Illinois Secretary of State's web site, providing services and information for businesses - from searching for corporate name availability to downloading business forms and the administration of the Uniform Commercial Code.
  • Federal Business Opportunities  
    Commercial vendors seeking federal markets for their products and services can search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire Federal contracting community.
  • FedStats 
    Gateway to statistics from over 100 U.S. federal agencies to track economic trends, healthcare costs, energy use and more. Search by geography, agency, keyword, major programs.
  • FirstGov
    U.S. government's official web portal.
  • Government Sales and Auctions
    Buy new, seized and surplus merchandise from the government.
  • Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (DCEO)  
    Access to information for businesses in Illinois 
  • Illinois Entrepreneurship Network (IEN) 
    The umbrella for all of Illinois' small business services
  • IRS Small Business Center  
    One-stop resource providing information on starting, operating or closing a business; employment and business taxes and treasury regulations.
  • SCORE Chicago
    Business counseling, management consulting, workshop and business plan resources for startups, small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Chicago area.
  • Small Business Development Center
    Provides timely and relevant research to the small business community, such as Country Business Patterns (US Census), business statistics with analysis of industries & businesses, how to buy a business, business plan templates and government procurement.
  • State of Illinois Business Portal
    Information from licensing, loans, grants, corporation registration, and more.
  • U.S. Small Business Administration
    Access to services and resources to start, grow, and succeed in business.