Government Freebies for Small Business

Federal agencies offer small businesses everything from shipping supplies to demographic data all for free

By Anne Stuart

Cynics may view "government" and "freebies" as mutually exclusive concepts, but federal agencies actually offer small businesses a variety of useful no-cost resources. These include:

Products, such as shipping materials and publications
Information, such as market-research data
Services, such as tax-deadline calendars and online classes

Prepare documents and products for shipping

The U.S. Postal Service offers free Priority and Express Mail envelopes, mailing tubes and boxes, as well as address labels customized with your company's name and address. You don't even need to pick up supplies in person; the USPS delivers them to your door.
Try: Order from U.S. Postal Service supplies from The Postal Store.

Get free business counseling

You can get free business advice online and in person through many local Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), local chapters of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE, a non-profit SBA partner) and many state and local chapters of women's business networks, which are also SBA partners.
Try: Find your local SBDC. This network of agencies, run as public-private partnerships, offers free business advice and other services. Contact your local chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) (enter your Zip code on the home page). And search for your local Women's Business Center in the PDF provided by the SBA's Office of Women Business Ownership).

Stay on top of business taxes

The Internal Revenue Service's Small Business Tax Calendar offers a month-by-month list of required actions and deadlines for taking them. It's packed with tips on topics from choosing an accounting method to hiring relatives to surviving an audit.
Try: Use the IRS Small Business Tax Calendar online, or order a CD copy free on the IRS Web site, where you can view other free small-business tax resources as well. Or call (800) 829-3676 (request Publication 1518).

Collect demographic data

The U.S. Census Bureau offers an almost limitless amount of demographic information useful for business plans, market studies, proposal preparation and other business research.
Try: Visit the Census Bureau for state-by-state population data, population projections and income information by household size.

Educate yourself online

The U.S. Small Business Administration offers Web-based courses covering marketing, cash flow and retirement planning, among other topics. Training is quick, private and user-friendly; learn at your convenience and your own pace.
Try: The SBA's course catalog lists the agency's classes as well as free offerings from other educational organizations; you can register on the spot.

Educate yourself in print

The SBA's Web site also lists about 200 publications on everything from developing products to evaluating franchise opportunities to preventing crime. Some are grouped by business stage (nascent, start-up, growing) or industry (retail, manufacturing, child care); some have hands-on workbooks for practicing as you learn.
Try: Visit the SBA's Online Library to download publications as Microsoft Word, PDF or text files.

Visit the federal Web sites frequently. Many agencies update their online offerings to reflect new research, legislation, trends and other changes.
Watch for additional resources targeted to specific groups such as women, minorities, veterans and people with disabilities.
Be wary of private companies offering to sell government products, such as U.S. Labor Department workplace-safety posters. Typically, you can obtain these items free directly from the government agency.
Contact state and local economic-development offices for more no-cost resources. For instance, many state secretaries of state offices provide online tools for searching state records to determine business-name availability.