Links
At the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Illinois State University, we strongly recommend that you read as much as you can to full prepare yourself to be a successful entrepreneur.
You probably already know the failure rates for small businesses – they’re not pretty. Improve your odds by being better prepared and more knowledgeable. Remember that you are playing with real money - your own! Be smart and be informed.
McLean County
- McLean County Assumed Name Certificate Intention (Form #290). This form must be filled out and notarized to register your business name in McLean County.
- McLean County Chamber of Commerce
- The Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council – includes a searchable database of available buildings/space in Bloomington/Normal, IL
- Central Illinois SCORE chapter
Government and Census - In any business you need to know if there are enough customers to support your business venture and then where to find them. The links on these pages can help you answer both of those questions.
- Census site – you can search by income, location, etc.
- US Department of Labor – use this site to look for trends within business segments – helpful for business-to-business industries
- The gateway to over 100 US Federal Agencies
- Brown University Population Studies and Training Center – includes statistics on international populations.
Business Start Up - If you are starting a new business, consider attending our free and informative seminar, “Starting Your Own Business”.
- Starting Your Own Business booklet
- McLean County Assumed Name Certificate Intention (Form #290). This form must be filled out and notarized to register your business name in McLean County.
- United States Patent and Trademark Office. Can be used to search for or file a patent or trademark.
- Internal Revenue Service – All businesses except sole proprietorships with no employees must fill out Form SS-4 and obtain a Federal Tax ID Number.
- Tax Guide for Small Businesses(pdf)
- Employers Tax Guide (pdf)
- Self-Employment Tax Guide (pdf)
- Regulations regarding estimated tax deposits which generally have to be made if your business will owe tax of $1,000 or more.
- IL Department of Revenue. All businesses except sole proprietorships with no employees must fill out the REG-1 Form.
- Illinois Withholding Tax Guide (pdf)
- Sales Tax Rate Change Summary for 2005-2009 (pdf)
- Illinois Sales Tax Publication (pdf)– helps retailers document taxable and exempt items.
- OSHA – Any business in instate commerce that has 1 or more employees is subject to OSHA guidelines.
- Step by Step guide to starting a business in Illinois
- Illinois Department of Employment Security – must register with IDES within 30 days of hiring employees.
- Fast Facts for Employers booklet about unemployment insurance (pdf)
- To keep in employee personnel files for withholding amounts (pdf)
- All U.S. employers are responsible for completion and retention of Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and non-citizens. On the form, the employer must verify the employment eligibility and identity documents presented by the employee and record the document information on the Form I-9. The form must be kept by the employer either for three years after the date of hire or for one year after employment is terminated, whichever is later.
- AnnualCreditReport.com - Get your credit report (for free once every 12 months) to be sure that your credit rating won't impact your chance of getting a business loan
- References For Business - includes 11 volumes of business plans, an encyclopedia (really more of a dictionary) on small business terms, and more.
- Information on a farmer-led training and support program presented by the University of Illinois designed to help you plan and launch your economically and environmentally sustainable farm businesses.
Business Plan - Let us begin by saying that we don’t recommend using business plan software. A business plan is NOT that hard to write.
The hard part is thinking through your business – what is your competitive advantage, who is your market, how are you going to reach them, all the what ifs – and a software program isn’t going to help you do that anyway. Besides, most bankers can tell which software program you used because they all look the same and the point is to make your plan stand out by looking better.
- SBA website
- 60 free business plans to browse through
- Web site in cooperation of the University of Maryland and has many, many free business plans to view.
- Tutorial about writing business plans with some humor thrown in for good measure (and to keep you awake).
- Get your credit report (for free once every 12 months) to be sure that your credit rating won't impact your chance of getting a business loan .
- Grants from the Federal Government
- Grants from the state of Illinois
- The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: If any money is loaned or given away by the federal government, this site lists it. It gives you a sense of what the government does (and does not) fund.
- Another site with information about grants from the federal government:
Disclaimer: Any link provided by this web site to a specific commercial product or service does not constitute an expressed or implied endorsement of these products or services by the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Illinois State University or by the Small Business Administration. The views and opinions expressed in any referenced website do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Illinois SBDC or SBA. Illinois SBDC and SBA do not assume any legal liability for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information contained in the sites linked from these pages.