Managing a Business

Find information and guidance that will help you manage and grow your business effectively. As its leader, you must make decisions that affect your business every day, some critical and some not so important.

• Leading Your Company

  Do you have what it takes to lead your company to success? Effective leaders share some pretty important personal characteristics. The topics in this section will help you determine if your personality type is likely to be a good fit for a ...

• Growing Your Business

  There’s more to growing a business than just watching customers come in your door. You must always plan ahead, and ensure that you’re poised for the new challenges that a growing business will face in a changing world.

• Exporting & Importing

  Take Your Business Global: Where will your next customer come from? Small businesses looking to increase sales and profit are taking their businesses global. Nearly 96 percent of consumers and over two-thirds of the world’s purchasing power ...

• Running a Business

  Will your small business run like clockwork every day? Probably not! You need to be prepared for all sorts of situations, even disasters that can’t be prevented. This section contains information you’ll need to run your business ...

• Business Law & Regulations

  Do you have to be an attorney to open and run a small business these days? The answer is no (although you shouldn’t hesitate to consult one if you have a sticky legal question). This section helps you with the day-to-day legal issues that ...

• Getting Out

  You may wish to leave your business for a variety of reasons. For example, you may be ready to retire – if so, congratulations! – and you may wish to hand your business to a relative. Or perhaps your business did not live up to your ...

• Business Guides by Industry

  Each guide in this section details information specific to an industry. You’re likely to find one that provides invaluable information targeted to your line of business.

• Local Resources

  Looking for small business counseling and training close to home? SBA can help! SBA provides small business counseling and training through a variety of programs and resource partners across the country. Check out the resources below to determine ...

• Forms

  The process of starting and managing a business requires a lot of analysis and paperwork. SBA has just about every resource you’ll need, from business plan examples and financial forms, to tools that can help you determine the best options ...