Biz.gov (www.business.gov/): The official link to the U.S. government. This site provides resources to help businesses quickly find compliance information, forms, and contacts from multiple U.S. government websites.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (http://www.ftc.gov/): The FTC has an online section on franchises and business opportunities. The site features franchise and business opportunity FAQs, business opportunity fraud alerts, federal and state business opportunity rights and laws and information on the FTC Franchise Rule.

FedStats (www.fedstats.gov/) : This site provides statistics from more than 100 government agencies which can be useful when conducting market research.

International Business Brokers Association (http://www.ibba.org/) : IBBA is the world’s largest association of business brokers. Through this site you can also find links to local chapters.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (www.irs.gov/) : The IRS Web site offers a broad range of products, services and resources to educate and assist small business owners and self-employed professionals.

National Association of Development Companies (NADCO) (www.nadco.org) : NADCO is the industry association for the SBA 504 lending partners.

National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders (NAGGL) (www.naggl.org): NAGGL is the industry association for the SBA 7a lending partners.

Service Corp of Retired Executives (SCORE) (www.score.org) : SCORE provides free counseling to business owners.

Social Security Online (www.socialsecurity.gov/): This site allows employers to process W-2s for their employees without the need for specialized software.

U.S. Department of Commerce (www.commerce.gov/) : Department of Commerce offers information on foreign markets and international trade. Commerce also monitors and enforces compliance with U.S. trade laws and agreements.

U.S. Department of Agriculture (www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/busp/b&i_gar.htm) : Department of Agriculture provides details about the USDA B&I loan program.

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (www.bls.gov/) : BLS is an agency for the Federal Government that produces labor economic data and statistics.

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) (www.sba.gov) : The SBA provides financial, technical and management assistance to help Americans start, run and grow their businesses.