One thing I love about e-commerce is how easy it is for people like me, the woefully unqualified, to get a business going. The internet has made it possible for individuals with no formal business training to become their own boss and place their financial destiny in their own hands. Yes, information super-highway has truly created a road to success.

It has also created a primrose path simply beckoning the fledgling home-based merchant to headaches, worry, and the poor house. While it certainly requires a much smaller investment to get a online business running than a traditional brick and mortar stores there is still many risks. In fact, sometimes the relative simplicity and lack of expense carriers with it the very seeds of failure.

It is so easy to get going that many new business people fail to get the kind of preparatory information and advice that could spell the difference between success and failure. The factors that contribute to this lack of preparedness are numerous, often a new merchant simply doesn’t know that they need to know something or they believe that to get good advice you’ve got pay expensive consultant fees. The sad part is that it doesn’t have to be this way.

There are many sources of free advice for new businesses. A local chamber of commerce and the Small Business Administration will both provide aid and comfort to the start up business.

A personal favorite source of free business advice is the SCORE organization. SCORE stands for Service Corps of Retired Executives. It is a volunteer organization of, as the name implies, ex corporate executives who have chosen to offer their years of experience to small business people.

Their website has many articles and links to resources that can help a new business understand the challenges and requirements to come. You can also find a volunteer in your area that will sit down with you and help develop a business plan, find funding, and just settle you down when things seem bleak.