Free Small Business Help and Resources

Discover Free Small Business Help in Missouri
Train myBiz
Train myBiz

10 Step Venture eMentoring Program™
Session 9: Business Launch
Module 9a: Regulations and Other Compliance Issues

As touched upon in the prior introduction, there may be certain permits and licenses that you need to obtain before you can “open for business.” These are not normally difficult to obtain. However, if you neglect to apply for them in time, they can become a serious hold-up to your operation.

The place to start is to contact the town or city hall that represents the geographic area where your business will be located. There, you will be able to learn about any local regulations that affect your type of business. You may also check with your Regional Planning Commission or Regional Council for information about other possible business regulations and requirements. This agency may also provide access to geographic, demographic and other potentially helpful business research data and statistics. Trade Associations may also offer helpful information about state and regional business requirements, as well as specific industry data.

Small Business Development Centers (SBDC) are further sources for accessing needed business data, as well as free and low-cost business assistance. There are typically multiple SBDC offices within a state that are based out of the state college or university.

You state Department of Labor or Labor Commission can assist you with any applicable labor laws, such as minimum wage requirements, employing youth or non-U.S. citizens as workers, what constitutes full-time versus part-time hours, sexual harassment guidelines, labor law posting requirements, and much more. There are also a range of labor related services available over the web to assist you, such as employee background checks and payroll services.

Workplace safety rules and regulations are governed by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). By visiting these websites, you can gain quite a bit of knowledge about business compliance issues, as well as available free and low-cost services to help support compliance.

Your Secretary of State Office and your state or Economic Development Agency also provide quite a bit of data, as well as direct assistance at no charge to help ensure that your business complies with any applicable rules and regulations.

Now – on to 9b: Managing Business Risk
Click here to continue

Newsletter Subscribe

Knowledge Institute on Facebook Buzgate in Twitter Buzgate in delicious Buzgate in Digg Captain Buz's Blog Economic Recovery Podcast Learning Series

Buzgate.org is an award-winning public service initiative created to facilitate awareness, access and use of free small business help offered by America's government and nonprofit small business assistance agencies on a local, regional and national scale.

SBA Business ChampionNew Hampshire Business Review Award Enterprising Woman of the Year Award MSNBC\'s Site of the Week NHBR Business Excellence Award Kim Komando\'s Site of the Day

As featured in:
Wall Street Jounal Los Angeles Times Business Week Inc. Magazine WPIX News Forbes AOL Money and Finance Reuters Yahoo! Finance State House News Service

Champions of small business and educational content underwriters. View All