My Favorite Things: 5 Great Small Business Resources

With apologies to John Donne, no small business owner is an island. Our success is dependent on so many variables, including our staff, the state of the economy, and a good dose of luck. But sometimes it's the little things that help us get through our busy, challenging days.

Those things can take many forms, and every entrepreneur has their own favorites. Some might be tangible, like a tech tool. Others could be more abstract, like the ability to do good or the chance to be inspired.

Borrowing a page from Oprah, here are some of my favorite things that help small businesses grow and prosper. I sincerely hope you'll find something on my list that will help or inspire you. And please feel free to share your own favorites in the "Join the Conversation" section below.

My Favorite Thing #1: Opportunity International. I'm a big believer in karma, and try to pay it forward as much as I can. So I just sent a $142 check to this microfinance nonprofit that "provides access to savings, small business loans, insurance and training" to more than three million impoverished people in the developing world who want to start or grow a business. Why $142? Most (85 percent) of Opportunity International's clients are women, and $142 is enough to fund a loan for a woman in a "trust group," which is a group of Opportunity International clients who guarantee each other's loans and receive business training.

My Favorite Thing #2: Carbonite. This online, in-the-cloud backup service has been a lifesaver for me. I've had a lot of bad luck with my computers this year. Using Carbonite enabled me to easily find files, recover my data, and populate a new laptop with all my information.

It is simple to set up and easy to use. If you're a home-based or micro-business, Carbonite costs $59 a year. The company recently launched Carbonite for Business, which offers the same "set it and forget it" protection for your entire company. For $229 a year you can back up an unlimited number of computers, with storage space up to 250 GB. If you need more than that, the Business Premier package ($599 a year) provides 500 GB of storage space, and supports Microsoft Windows servers.

My Favorite Thing #3: Fathom research/analytics. This new Facebook measurement tool was just launched for small businesses this month, but it's so fascinating I had to put it on my list. If you want an analysis of what's causing people to talk about your business (or your competitors) on Facebook, how they feel about your brand, this is the tool for you. Since many surveys show Facebook is the most-used social medium by small business owners, this chance to learn how to deepen your relationship with your customers there is worth a look.

Pricing varies (starting at $49 a month), but you can check it out for 14 days for free. And you can also freely "spy" on some name-brand companies to see what the trends are, and how this may apply to your company. For instance a quick glance at McDonald's page shows that while its fans are loyal, "a poor brand experience may be causing the more frustrated customers to speak out."

My Favorite Thing #4: Free Help. The expression "you get what you pay for" is not a truism. I recently attended the annual awards dinner held by the Los Angeles Small Business Development Center network (Disclosure: They're a client). I am always inspired at these dinners by the stories of the entrepreneurs in need who got the answers to their questions -- or the help they didn't even know they needed -- for free. Several of the winning business owners at the dinner admitted they wouldn't be in business today if not for the help of the SBDC counselors. (You could say the same for the volunteer mentors at SCORE.)

My Favorite Thing #5: Young Entrepreneurs. I believe the Millennials (Gen Y) are the most entrepreneurial generation America has ever seen. Sure, not everyone interprets their traits the same way. What naysayers see as entitlement, I see as confidence. It's not that they don't see failure as an option; it's that they don't fear it, so the idea of failing doesn't derail their ambitions. And they're big believers in the social good; they have a keen understanding that it is, indeed, "a small world after all."

I like lots of other things too (Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, for example). But, of course, my absolute most favorite thing is helping you entrepreneurs start and grow your businesses.

---

Follow Rieva on Twitter @Rieva and read more of her insights on SmallBizDaily.com.