Statistic Brain as the name implies is a website chock full of statistics. The statistics are in a range of topics such as health, business, entertainment, technology and more. The site is clutter-free, simple to use, and the statistics are cited. This site would be useful for business plans and for those of you that are just interested in random statistics.

If you haven't already you should check out the free Small Business Workshops that have been happening at the Santa Teresa Library every 2nd Saturday of the month.  The next workshop on April 14th from 10:30 am-12:30 pm will cover business plans.

From Complexity to Simplicity: The Fastest, Easiest Way to Write a Business Plan

The  guest speaker will be Lynnea Hagen, founder of The Abundance Company.  Lynnea is a speaker, trainer, author, consultant, as well as founder and owner of The Abundance Company. Her specialties include: Advanced leadership skills and “Success-Driven” strategic business plans for entrepreneurs and corporate professionals. She has been a consultant to Silicon Valley-based corporations since 1981, and a coach to corporate professionals since 1986.

In this Workshop you will learn:

1. How to organize your business ideas into a One-Page Business Plan.

2. How to create a "Living Document" out of your business plan.

3. How to get unstuck: go home with a working rough draft of your business plan.

The library has Free WiFi and plenty of electrical outlets so laptops are most welcome.

There will be time for networking as well. 

Happy New Year! If one of your resolutions is to get started on that business plan, you're in luck. On Wednesday, Jan. 11 @ 6:30pm,  an experienced speaker from SCORE will be at the Santa Teresa Library to talk about business plans. There will be time at the end of presentation for questions and networking. I hope you will join us for this informative talk.

If you are thinking about starting a business or have a business idea, the first thing people will tell you is to write a business plan. Some things you might be thinking are: Do I really need to do this?  I know what I am doing. I don't have time to write this thing that I will never use.

It does take time to get your business plan together but it is usually necessary if you want to get financing or looking for partners/ investors.  Plus, the business plan is not only to sell your business idea to others but it really is a roadmap and guide for yourself.  It helps keep you on track with spending, profit goals, and so you don't lose sight of the "big picture".  To get you started on your business plan the library has a few resources:

How to Write a Business Plan by Mike McKeever

Anatomy of a Business Plan by Linda Pinson

And if you can't get to the library, we have resources available online:

Business Plans for Dummies by Paul Tiffany

Small Business Reference Center: Full-text of the Nolo title How to Write a Business Plan and business plan samples.

In addition SCORE has great business plan templates available online.

You know that soundbite you hear in the news that "the approval rating for the President has gone up 2 percent." Well, chances are the source of those stats comes from the Pew Research Center. This group-described "fact tank" is non-profit and non-partisan. The Pew Research Center not only does public opinion polling about Presidential approval ratings but other polls and social science research. How can information from Pew Research Center help me? Well, you can find out technology, lifestyle, religious, social, and demographic trends. This is a great resource for new and existing business owners to stay up on the latest trends and what consumers are doing, not to mention data for business plans. Dig around their website, there is a lot of interesting information, especially since the Center has seven different research projects.