A customer wants information on starting a small business. What is the best starting point to answer the question?

Though simply stated, this is a pretty broad question, and in order to find out where to start, you need a little more information. Otherwise, you may take her down the completely wrong path.

• Does the customer have an idea what kind of business to start, or is she still trying to figure that out?
• Is the customer already in the process but needs help writing a business plan?
• Does the customer need to know what kinds of licenses or permits are needed?

Looks like it’s time for a good old-fashioned reference interview with some open-ended questions. “Can you tell me a little more?” “Where in the process are you?”

If your customer is starting from square one and doesn’t even know what kind of business to start, there are a number of good books to recommend, such as Weekend Entrepreneur: 101 Great Ways to Earn Extra Cash, Small Business Start-Up Kit, or Small Business Kit for Dummies. Your library probably has books like these if not the actual titles.

Also, the Small Business Administration Web site is full of information for people in every step of the small business process, from beginners to seasoned professionals.

Writing a business plan can be a pretty daunting task too. There are many general books on writing business plans, which your library may have, but an individual working on a plan will need specific information on industry trends, competition, and customer demographics that relate to her kind of business.

• Hoover’s Industry Overview offers free information on dozens of industry sectors.
• The Census Bureau has demographic information on people from the American Factfinder page and competition information from its Economic Census page.

The place to find license information is the Maryland Business License Information System, where you can type in the kind of business the customer wants to open and receive links to the appropriate state agencies that oversee possible permits they may need.

To find other useful information look at the Pratt Library’s Small Business Corner.