Great business resources

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of taking a "Start Your Own Business" class, hosted by Lehigh Valley SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives).  The class was great - it had a lot of really useful information, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is considering starting their own business.

Among the many resources they made available were some websites that have a treasure trove of data that can be immensly helpful to you and your business.  Below are a few of those sites:

• PA Open For Business:  Contains a variety of information about how to open a business in Pennsylvania, including links to possible grant and loan programs.
• Lehigh Valley Financing:  Run by the Small Business Development Center, this site has info on how to finance your business dream.
• Census:  It may seem obvious, but make sure you check out the Census website - it has every bit of general demographic data you could ask for.  Best of all, you can customize your search to specifically where you are looking.
• ZIPskinny:  Type in any zip code and this site will give you a great (and easily readable) breakdown of the its demographics.  You can also compare one zip code to another, make charts, check out schools and more.