As a small-business owner, it’s important to find high-quality information and educational resour-ces you can trust to help you overcome common obstacles and achieve success. These resources may include finance-focused resources such as magazines, podcasts or blogs that aim to educate business owners about how to make the right financial decisions.
With the large number of online resources out there, it’s hard to know where to begin searching for the best ones for your needs. To help you get started, below, 15 Forbes Finance Council members share their go-to finance blogs, periodicals, podcasts and websites—resources that they believe all small-business owners should be accessing.
Bench Blog
One of the most helpful blogs I have seen is Bench Blog, posted by Bench, a bookkeeping service for small businesses. In particular, they have great resources to help entrepreneurs understand Covid relief and what a lot of the new regulations will mean for them. Many of my clients like it, and we have sent many people to the site for this information and the other general business information the blog provides. – Patrick Rood, Rood Financial Services.
CFO. University
One of my favorite sources of corporate-finance-specific content is CFO.University. The site features a treasure trove of information on accounting, finance, treasury and financial leadership. They have dozens of active contributors and a steady supply of fresh, free content as well as some paid content that includes training courses and programs. – Glenn Hopper, Sandline Global
Harvard Business Review
Harvard Business Review is full of ideas and strategies. Even though most articles are for large businesses, the creativity and ideas can be leveraged by any small business or startup. I always leave Sunday open for reading and thinking with a good read of HBR. – JD Morris, SPE Funds Advisors LLC
Small-business owners should digest the content from the website of the National Federation of Independent Business Owners. This is a nonpartisan organization that lobbies on behalf of small-business owners.
Online Communities
I have found subscribing to several sources, skimming the headlines and looking for information on the specific challenges I’m facing to be an effective strategy. If you encounter a problem, chances are that someone else has faced it too, and there is a thread relating to it somewhere. Don’t be afraid to use Google. I have found many useful ideas and solutions in communities and message boards.
Good marketing practices have a direct financial impact on a business. All small-business owners should read the blog produced by Alyssa Gelbard’s company, Point Road Group.
It has great, timely content to help small-business owners not only navigate an ever-changing landscape but also learn some basic fundamentals.
Small-business owners should digest the content from the website of the National Federation of Independent Business Owners.