Software of the Month Club 1997 March/Software of the Month Club 1997 March.iso/pc/dos/biz/sbadvisr/f107.sbe

Text File | 1996-10-27 | 19.7 KB | 460 lines

@065 CHAP 10

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        │USEFUL TELEPHONE HELP LINES AND INTERNET SITES:│
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TELEPHONE HOTLINES.  The SBA and several other government
agencies maintain toll-free telephone "hotline" information
services to assist businesses and taxpayers.  Some of the
more important ones to know about are the following:

    . SBA Answer Desk: 1-800/827-5722 (or 1-800-UASK-SBA)

      This is the toll-free number of a new small business
      information and referral service offered by the SBA,
      which you can call from anywhere in the continental
      United States, except Washington, D.C.  In the
      District of Columbia, call 653-7561.

      This answer desk is a system providing voice mail
      messages on a wide variety of small business subjects.

    . SBA On-Line:  The SBA has set up its first electronic
      bulletin board system, called SBA On-Line, to help
      distribute information about its services and
      publications.  There is no charge for this service.
      You can browse through various files remotely or
      download them, for free, to your computer.  Even the
      phone lines for this BBS are toll-free.  To log on,
      dial:

         -  1-800-697-INFO

    . Small Business Hotline: [phone]

      This toll-free line is a specialized free service
      offered by the Export-Import Bank to small exporters
      needing general information or problem-solving
      assistance relating to doing business abroad.  It
      provides information on export credit and on assistance
      available from other government agencies and the
      private sector.

    . Immigration and Naturalization Service:  1-800-755-0777

      This toll-free line is for information about your
      responsibilities as an employer under U.S immigration
      laws and regulations.

    . U.S. Department of Justice:  [phone]

      Call this hotline to hear prerecorded and taped message
      regarding the type of documents you can request from a
      new employee to establish identity and work eligibility
      under the U.S. immigration laws.

    . Interagency Trade Information Center:  1-800/USA-TRADE

      (For general information on exporting, provided by
      various U.S. government agencies.)

      NOTE:  For information on taxes and other aspects of
      doing business in various foreign countries, the
      accounting firm of Ernst & Young publishes a series
      of booklets for each of a large number of countries.
      To obtain one of these country guides, call or write
      the Ernst & Young office near you.  (Ernst & Young
      offices are located in most major cities and in
      almost every state.)


    . EPA Small Business Ombudsman: 1-800/368-5888 (or, if
      busy, try 1-703/305-5938)

      Like certain Scandinavian countries, the Environmental
      Protection Agency now has a "Small Business Ombudsman"
      to give you easier access to the EPA, help you comply
      with EPA regulations, and make sure you are fairly
      treated in any disputes with the EPA.

    . Internal Revenue Service National Toll-Free Line:
      1-800/TAX-FORM

      Use this number (1-800/829-3676) to obtain IRS tax
      forms, publications, etc.  The IRS also puts on free
      small business workshops nationwide.  To call for a
      reservation, use the IRS national toll-free number.

    . Americans with Disabilities Act information:  For
      information on ADA, call the U.S. Justice Department's
      information line:  1-202/514-0301

    . Social Security Administration: 1-800/772-1213

      If you want to find out what records the Social
      Security Administration (SSA) has of your earnings
      and your projected benefits at retirement age, you
      can file a simple form requesting a detailed printout
      of this information (and hopefully find they haven't
      lost your files).  This is something everyone should
      do once every few years, since, if the SSA has made
      a serious mistake in your earnings record, you have
      only a limited number of years in which you can
      contact them and have your record corrected.

      To obtain the request form, call the above toll-free
      number.  Or, if you prefer, you can write the SSA for
      this form at:

                      Consumer Information Center
                      Department 72
                      Pueblo, Colorado 81009

@CODE: CA
    . California Franchise Tax Board Information Center
      Phone Numbers:

      In California, call (toll-free):

      . From Area Codes 209, 408, 415, 707, and 916:
        1-800/852-7050
      . From elsewhere:   1-800/852-5711

      From outside of California call: 1-800/852-5711

    . California State Board of Equalization general
      information number:  1-800/400-7115

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@CODE: HI
    . Hawaii Business Action Center (One-stop center for
      all state permits at 1130 N. Nimitz Hwy., Suite
      A-254, in Honolulu)

      From Oahu, call:   1-808/586-2545
      Neighbor Islands Toll Free Number:  1-800/225-6723

    . Hawaii Small Business Information Service
      (Honolulu):  1-808/586-2600
      Neighbor Islands Toll Free Number:  1-800/541-3289

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@CODE: WS
    . Wisconsin has announced an automated forms and
      documents retrieval system, "Fax-a-form," available for
      use by anyone with a fax machine.  The system provides
      access to a telephone menu that allows you to select
      Wisconsin tax forms and publications and have them
      faxed back to you, and is available 24 hours every day.
      The telephone number for Fax-a-form is [phone].

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HELPFUL INTERNET AND WORLD WIDE WEB SITES (MODEM AND
INTERNET ACCESS REQUIRED):

Many businesses, government and nonprofit organizations have
set up home pages (or "storefronts") on the World Wide Web
of the Internet, where you can browse through or download
information, view videos and catalogues, and place orders
for merchandise, in some cases.  Some of the more useful
sites for small businesses include the ones listed below.

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:

    . FED WORLD -- This is the central clearing site for
      Internet sites that are related to the federal
      government.  It's a good place to start to locate and
      review available information for a wide array of
      federal agencies and departments.  Its Web address is:
      http://www.fedworld.gov

    . SBA ONLINE -- The Small Business Administration has
      a Web site, providing tips for starting, financing,
      and expanding a small business, at the following
      Web address:  http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov

      It includes links to other Web sites, including a
      nifty new "U.S. Business Advisor" site that includes
      information on almost every subject for anyone who
      has dealings with the government.  The Web address
      of the U.S. Business Advisor site is:
      http://www.business.gov

    . IRS -- Even the Internal Revenue Service now has a
      Web site from which you can download tax forms and
      instructions and obtain other tax information.  You
      can download forms and other items to your computer
      and print them out later.  The IRS Web address is:
      http://www.irs.ustreas.gov/

    . EDGAR -- The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange
      Commission) Web site contains corporate filings that
      have been submitted to the SEC under the securities
      laws, including 10K's, 10Q's and other forms.  EDGAR's
      address is: http://www.town.hall.org/edgar/edgar.html

    . SEC HOME PAGE -- The SEC LAW home page provides updated
      information on SEC actions, including a section on
      small business matters, proposed regulations, and SEC
      news tidbits.  Its Web address:  http://www.seclaw.com

    . THE WHITE HOUSE -- The Clinton Administration has set
      up this popular Internet site, which offers information
      on many areas of the executive branch of the federal
      government, among other things.  The address on the
      Web is:  http://www.whitehouse.gov

    . THOMAS -- Not to be outdone by the executive branch,
      the U.S. Congress has set up THOMAS, a huge collection
      of accessible information about the workings of the
      Congress, including the full text of House and Senate
      legislation.  You can now read the full text of pending
      bills for yourself, without need to hire an expensive
      and Gucci-shod Washington lobbyist to tell you what is
      in a proposed new bill.  THOMAS can be reached at:
      http://thomas.loc.gov

    . U.S. TAX CODE -- If you are a lawyer or CPA, or other
      fearless soul, and want to go directly to the source to
      do your own tax research, you can search the federal
      Internal Revenue Code on the Web at:
      http://www.fourmilab.ch/ustax/ustax.html

STATE GOVERNMENTS:

    . STATE INFORMATION -- You can now access a wide range
      of business and tax information for any of the states
      via the Internet.  In most states, you can now directly
      access the state's laws, download tax forms, and access
      on-screen information on a wide range of business, tax
      and regulatory subjects.  A good starting point for a
      search of state Web sites is the following "Yahoo" Web
      site, which lists all of the states -- simply click on
      the state whose governmental information you wish to
      peruse:   http://www.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__States/

@CODE: AR
    . ARKANSAS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION.  This state
      economic development agency offers a wide range of
      information on business conditions in Arkansas, for
      businesses interested in starting up or relocating in
      the state:  http://www.aidc.state.ar.us

@CODE:OF
@CODE: CA
    . STATE OF CALIFORNIA -- For a wide variety of information
      about the state government, including access to
      legislative information, economic data, and the ability
      to search the full text of the California statutory
      codes, at no charge, other than any on-line time charges
      you may incur, try the California state government Home
      Page:   http://www.ca.gov

    . CALIFORNIA TAXES -- The California Franchise Tax Board
      maintains a World Wide Web site, which contains nearly
      all state tax forms, instructions, and publications,
      which you may download for free.  Also, The FTB has even
      created its own CD-ROM containing California tax forms,
      which you can obtain.  The FTB's Web address is:
      http://www.ftb.ca.gov

    . CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION (SBE).  The SBE,
      which administers the sales and use tax and many other
      California taxes, now has a Web site, from which users
      can obtain sales/use tax rates in any of the state's
      counties and other information.  The SBE's Web address
      is:  http://www.boe.ca.gov/boe/

    . CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF SMALL BUSINESS -- This Web
      site provides information on 3 areas:  (1) Financial
      assistance, (2) the California Small Business
      Development Center Program, and (3) the Marketing
      and Advocacy Division.  Its Web address is:
      http://www.ca.gov/commerce/sb_home.html

      Its E-mail address is:  [e-mail]

    . CALIFORNIA TRADE AND COMMERCE AGENCY -- For information
      about this umbrella agency, its Home Page address is:
      http://www.ca.gov/commerce/home.html

    . CALIFORNIA ELECTRONIC ADDRESSES -- You can get a
      comprehensive listing of over 160 California Government
      electronic addresses by downloading a text file over
      the Internet.  For details on downloading this
      copyrighted information, go to the following Web site:
      http://www.cpsr.org/dox/cegi.html

@CODE:OF
@CODE: CO
    . COLORADO ELECTRONIC ADDRESSES -- The Colorado Dept.
      of Revenue now has a computer bulletin board system
      available to provide 24-hour a day information to
      taxpayers.  To access it, you need a computer,
      communications software, and a modem.

      The BBS provides "For Your Information" tax fact
      sheets, all Colorado income tax forms, most of the
      commonly used business tax forms, and Department of
      Revenue newsletters.  You can download software and
      form files which you can use to print out the tax
      forms on your printer, regardless of the type of
      printer you have.

      The BBS telephone number is:  [phone].

      This information is also available on the Internet,
      through Colorado's World Wide Web (WWW) site, at:
      http://www.state.co.us

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@CODE: WA
    . WASHINGTON STATE -- The state of Washington maintains
      a number of Web sites, including sites for the
      legislature, the governor's office, and the secretary
      of state.  You may need the Adobe Acrobat file viewer
      to read some of the information.  For links to all
      state agencies, go to the following Web address:
      http://www.wa.gov/

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PRIVATE SITES:

    . YAHOO -- The ultimate roadmap to the Web.  It is an
      enormous index to the Web and includes an excellent
      search engine, to help you get to the information
      you need, business-related or otherwise.  Its Web
      address is:  http://www.yahoo.com

    . SMALLBIZNET -- Probably the best site for general
      business information on the Internet, created by the
      Edward Lowe Foundation, a private philanthropic
      organization.  It contains a vast number of business
      resources, and you can order whole books or for
      a modest fee, pick a subject and use their "fax-on-
      demand" service to fax specific information back to
      you on the subjects you select, for a nominal charge.
      Contains the entire PSI Research/Oasis Press
      Successful Business Library, including the "Starting
      and Operating a Business in ....." series of books
      for all 50 states and D.C. (by the author of this
      software program), at the following Web address:
      http://www.lowe.org/smbiznet/bookshel/index.htm

    . WWW VIRTUAL LIBRARY -- Add this site to your Web sites
      hotlist!  It contains a collection of lists of sites
      kept by various parties throughout the world, on almost
      any conceivable subject area.  You can link directly to
      any of those sites, including business-related ones, for
      lists of useful sites on the topics of your choice.
      It's like an index of indexes, and a great place to start
      your research on any subject.  Its address on the Web is:

   http://www.w3.org/hypertext/datasources/bysubject/overview.html

    . UCSD LIBRARY -- The University of California at San
      Diego library makes available a reference shelf with
      much information that can be useful to businesses. Its
      various menu options include dictionaries, encyclopedias
      and a facility for linking to the United Nations to get
      the United Nations Currency Exchange Rates.  Its address
      on the Web is:  http://www.ucsd.edu

    . MARKET RESEARCH -- Two key sites for locating companies
      that are on the Net are BizWeb and the Commercial Sites
      Index.  BizWeb is sort of a "yellow pages" listing of
      of companies, arranged by category, but also includes a
      handy search engine.  The Commercial Sites Index lists
      thousands of companies that have set up a home page on
      the Net.   Access BizWeb at:   http://www.bizweb.com
      or Commercial Sites Index at:  http://www.directory.net

    . ENTREPRENEURS ON THE WEB -- This site contains a wide
      range of resource information on different aspects of
      running a business, and includes links to other legal
      and business sites.  Its Internet address is:
      http://sashimi.wwa.com/~notime/eotw/eotw.html

    . ENTREPRENEURIAL EDGE ONLINE -- Contains numerous modules
      of advice on many aspects of starting or running a small
      business, plus links to many other useful home pages.
      Address:  http://www.edgeonline.com/

    . WOMEN ON THE WEB -- This is the best Web site for women
      in business, and is the home page for Working Women,
      Working Mother, and Ms. magazines.  Contains an extensive
      database of articles on subjects such as best companies
      for working mothers, the best women-owned businesses, and
      the hottest careers for women.  You simply identify your
      criteria, such as salary range, access to child care, and
      percentage of women employees, and the database will dish
      up a package of information customized to your tastes and
      particular interests.  Its Web address is:
      http://www.womweb.com/index.html

    . ONLINE SERVICES' SITES -- If you have memberships on
      America Online, Compuserve, Prodigy, or the Microsoft
      Network, contact some or all of the following sites:

      -- America Online:  Go to the area on AOL known as the
      Entrepreneur Zone, which provides a number of business
      information services and content providers, such as
      business magazines.  Keyword:  ezone

      -- Compuserve:  The Working from Home Forum contains
      a wide range of downloadable software, and you can
      interact with other home-based entrepreneurs to exchange
      ideas and information.  Go:  work

      -- Prodigy:  On the Prodigy service, the main business
      bulletin board and discussion group area is the
      Entrepreneur Exchange.  Jump:  entrepreneur exchange

      -- Microsoft Network:  The business information
      publishing giant, Commerce Clearing House (CCH), now
      maintains an area on the MSN called the CCH Business
      Owner's Toolkit, which offers a wide range of basic
      information on business laws and taxes.   Go word: CCH

    . THE COPYRIGHT WEBSITE -- Contains helpful information and
      advice on how to copyright your writing or other creative
      works, including a special emphasis on copyright laws as
      they apply to Web publishing.   The Web address for this
      site is:   http://www.benedict.com

    . AMERICAN BUSINESS JOURNALS -- This site, maintained by
      the publisher of business journals in more than two
      dozen major U.S. cities, contains links to each of those
      local business journals, including sample articles you
      may view on-line, and the ability to sign up for a
      subscription to the journal (if any) in your city.
      The Web address is:  http://www.amcity.com

    . CORPORATE AGENTS, INC. -- This private service will,
      for a small fee, incorporate your business in any state,
      generally within 24-48 hours.  You can initiate the
      process of incorporation on-line, if you wish, at their
      Web site:   http://www.corporate.com

@CODE: CA
    . CALIFORNIA STATE BAR -- The State Bar maintains a
      Web site, with information for lawyers, including the
      complete text of the Rules of Professional Conduct
      and the State Bar Act, at:  http://www.calbar.org

    . CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION AND CODES OUTLINE.  This private
      experimental search engine permits you to do your own
      legal research, by searching the California Constitution
      and statutory Codes, including tables of contents, and
      directories you can browse.  Its Web location is:
      http://www.jhhw.com/codes/index.html

    . SPIDELL PUBLISHING -- This publisher of California tax
      information maintains a Web site with considerable
      free information on taxation in California, at:
      http://www.caltax.com

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