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Business resources.
Everything below is free unless it says otherwise. That includes 12 teaching videos we made ourselves, the forms and offices you will deal with when you register, and the tools we actually recommend when somebody asks in a coaching session.
Start with this
The New Biz Blueprint
Our must-have checklist for a new business, plus a short weekly note with what we are seeing work. Unsubscribe whenever.
Registering a business
Four offices, in the order you will meet them. None of them talk to each other, so you deal with each one separately.
Tennessee Secretary of State
Business name searches, name registration, and filings — initial, annual, and changes. Also formation guidance for LLCs and corporations.
Best for: Anyone forming an LLC or corporation, and anyone checking whether a name is taken.
Go there ↗Your county clerk — business license
A standard business licence is issued by the county, and sometimes the city, where you operate. Which office you deal with depends on where you are.
Best for: Everyone selling goods or services in Tennessee.
Go there ↗Tennessee Department of Revenue
The state tax office. They assign your tax accounts once you register. Set up a TNTAP account — Tennessee Taxpayer Access Point — to handle quarterly and annual obligations.
Best for: Every registered business, from the first month.
Go there ↗Internal Revenue Service
Federal returns, and your EIN — the Employer Identification Number that identifies the business the way a Social Security number identifies a person.
Best for: Anyone hiring, opening a business bank account, or forming an entity. The EIN is free and takes minutes.
Go there ↗
The library
Planning
Before anything else: what problem you solve, who pays for it, and whether the numbers can work.
- VideoThe entrepreneurial mindsetHow founders think differently, and why it matters in a downturn.
- VideoIntroduction to the business model canvasOne page instead of a forty-page business plan.
- DownloadBusiness model canvas worksheetThe blank canvas to fill in as you watch. Prints at 17×11.
- VideoCustomer discoveryFinding out whether anyone actually wants it.
- DownloadNew business checklistThe must-have list, sent when you join the newsletter.
- DownloadBusiness plan example — the short versionA fictional bakery, worked through the canvas blocks above. 8 pages.
- DownloadBusiness plan example — the full versionThe same bakery, written for a lender — cash flow, break-even, and what happens if the owner is wrong. 18 pages.
- DownloadSimple business plan templateBlank, to print and write on. Every prompt is a question.
- DownloadExecutive summary — the questions it has to answerWrite this page last. It is the only page some readers finish.
- DownloadBasic financial projectionsExcel. Fill in the assumptions and three years of figures calculate themselves.
- GuideTSBDC training and workshopsOn-demand and in-person, free through the state.
- ToolLivePlanBusiness plan software. Paid — about $20 a month.
Legal
Choosing a structure, registering it, and protecting the name and ideas underneath it.
- VideoEntity selection basicsSole proprietor, LLC, S-corp — what the choice actually changes.
- VideoProtecting your intellectual propertyTrademark, copyright and patent, and which one you need.
- GuideHow to start an LLC in TennesseeStep by step. Free to read; the site earns from filing referrals.
- DownloadTennessee trademark application (SS-4264)The state form. State marks only — federal filing is with the USPTO.
- ToolLawDepotFill-in-the-blank contracts and agreements. Paid.
- DownloadTSBDC referral listWho to call for what, across the region.
Money and books
Reading your own numbers well enough to make decisions with them, and keeping the tax side clean.
- VideoAccounting 101With Tiffany Crabtree, CPA. Start here if books are a mystery.
- VideoQuickBooks basicsSetting it up so it tells you something useful.
- DownloadHow to read a profit and loss statementSBA Ascent worksheet. Free.
- DownloadPersonal financial statementExcel. Every lender asks for one — often before they read your business plan.
- DownloadBasic financial projectionsExcel. Three years of figures from one page of assumptions.
- DownloadTennessee business tax guideState guide, 2017 edition — good on concepts, check current rates with Revenue.
- DownloadTSBDC referral listWho to call for what, across the region.
Insurance
What can go wrong, and which of it you should not be carrying yourself.
Funding
What you can realistically borrow or raise, and what it costs you in each case.
Operations and hiring
Getting the work out of your own head, and finding people who can do it without you.
Marketing and web
Being findable, and being worth finding. Most of this you can do yourself.
- On our siteWord of mouth marketing is kingCheapest marketing there is, and the hardest to fake.
- On our siteEverything we have written on marketing and web
- ToolCanvaGraphics, social posts, simple print. Free tier is plenty.
- ToolLookaLogo generator. Free to design, paid to download.
- ToolSquarespaceDrag-and-drop websites. Paid, and the fastest way to be online.
- ToolWordPressMore work than Squarespace, more control. Free software, paid hosting.
- ToolGoogle AnalyticsWho visits and what they do. Free.
- ToolMicrosoft ClaritySession recordings and heatmaps. Free.
- ToolMailchimpEmail newsletters. Free to start.
- ToolConstant ContactEmail newsletters. Paid.
- ToolKlaviyoEmail and SMS, built for online stores.
- ToolLaterScheduling social posts ahead of time.
- ToolPlanolyPlanning how a feed will look before you post it.
- DownloadTSBDC referral listWho to call for what, across the region.
Customers
Keeping track of who they are, and keeping them.
Non-profits
A different set of forms, and a different set of questions.
Or talk to someone
Reading only takes you so far. All four of these are free, and all four are staffed by people who do this for a living.
The Biz Foundry
Bring us the idea or the business and we will work through it with you. Coaching is free, and there is no pitch at the end.
Book a sessionTennessee Small Business Development Center
Our local arm of the SBDC. Best in the region on funding — what you can borrow, from whom, and what the lender will ask for.
Go there ↗Tennessee Smart Start
The state's own walkthrough for a new business, with a guide you can download and work through offline.
Go there ↗Tennessee Tech Center for Rural Innovation
Tennessee Tech's programme for rural entrepreneurship and innovation, with student and faculty expertise behind it.
Go there ↗
Did not find what you needed?
Tell us what you are trying to do and we will point you at the right resource, or the right person. Coaching is free and there is no pitch at the end.
Start hereSome links here go to other organisations and companies. We list them because we think they are useful, not because we control them — we are not responsible for the accuracy of anything on a site that is not ours.