By: WSJ staff with Barry Merkin

August 21, 2006, Wall Street Journal

People in the 55 to 64 age range have been the group most likely to start a new business over the past decade, according to the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Mo. With that in mind, we asked Barry Merkin, a professor of entrepreneurship at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, to recommend several resources to help the 50-plus crowd get their dreams off the ground. Here are some of his picks, with his comments on each.

• "The World is Flat" By Thomas Friedman
"The avalanche of revolutionary change can produce various levels of 'knowledge obsolescence' in people of retirement age. Think Google, Wal-Mart, Chinese cars and immigration. Globalization may be the premier contributor, and an understanding of Mr. Freidman's book is extremely valuable."

• SCORE, Counselors to America's Small Business, www.score.org4
"A nationwide group of active and retired businessmen and women (formerly the Service Corps of Retired Executives) who volunteer their services to assist small businesses and entrepreneurs. Provides free business counseling and offers low-cost workshops on a variety of business topics."

• Starting-Costs Calculator, www.bplans.com/common/calculators/startingcosts.cfm?affiliate=wsj5
"Calculate your true starting costs. When complete, rework the worksheet by adopting a key entrepreneurship axiom: everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much. More than a trite phrase, it is an understated reality."

• Cash-Flow Statement, www.score.org/template_gallery.html6
"Running out of cash is the most common reason for start-up failures. Careful and realistic cash-flow projections can't eliminate the problem but do much to calculate the amount of start-up capital needed…and when."

• AARP Retirement Calculator, www.aarp.org/money/financial_planning7
"By considering such things as retirement age, life expectancy, desired annual income and inflation, this tool calculates the money needed for retirement. This is vital in determining the amount of personal funds available for risk in entrepreneurship." (From the Web page above, click on "Retirement Planning Calculator" and then on "Use the AARP Retirement Planning Calculator.")

• "Dipping Into Your Retirement Fund to Start a Business", www.entrepreneur.com/article/0,4621,314671,00.html8
"This article, by Stever Robbins at entrepreneur.com, discusses withdrawing funds from a retirement account in order to finance an entrepreneurial venture. According to the author, it is generally advisable to find funding from any source other than a retirement account, because if all else fails, there will still be money left to live on. However, if a retirement account is the only source of capital, the author advises treating yourself as a loan applicant and computing the rate of return that will be necessary to make the investment profitable."

• Evaluating Your Abilities and Skills, www.powerhomebiz.com/vol21/retiree.htm9 and www.sba.gov/starting_business/startup/areyouready.html10
"There is simply no way to eliminate all the risks associated with starting a small business. These two articles, from powerhomebiz.com and the Small Business Administration, will help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses as a potential owner and manager of a small business."

• Businesses for Sale, bizbuysell.startupjournal.com/cgi-bin/adhome?J=J11
"Two extensive databases: established businesses and asset sales. Search by type of business, location, keyword and number of days listed."

• International Franchise Association, www.franchise.org12
"Contains information on more than 1,000 franchises. Includes current news, programs, services, education, supplier directory, career center, books and publications."

• Federal Trade Commission, www.ftc.gov/bcp/franchise/netfran.htm13
"Important FTC information, including pamphlets on franchise and business opportunities, the FTC franchise rule, state disclosure requirements and recent enforcement cases."

Business Plans

• www.bplans.com/hurdleonline/?affiliate=sba14
• www.sba.gov/starting_business/planning/writingplan.html15
• www.bplans.com/sp/businessplans.cfm16

"There are no guarantees for success in entrepreneurship, but few processes help the odds more than the disciplined, well-researched, honest and complete preparation of a business plan. The two Small Business Administration sites offer an invaluable step-by-step plan on how to write your plan, as well as a tutorial in designing a business plan. The bplans.com site offers 60 free sample business plans, ranging from aircraft equipment maker to wedding consultant."

Technology

• www.sba.gov/sbir17
• www.smallbusinesscomputing.com18
• www.techweb.com19
• www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/hub.mspx20
• www-1.ibm.com/businesscenter/smb/us/en/sbrc21

"The SBA site helps small high-tech businesses find government-funded work. The business sites feature news, information and developments in technology that small-business owners may find useful."

Angels and Private Investors

• www.capital-connection.com/networksangels.html22
• www.inc.com/articles/2001/09/23461.html#national23

"Start-ups often find it difficult to locate early investors. These are two valuable listings of Angel Networks, divided by states, and including hard-to-find data."

General

• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, www.uspto.gov24
"Voluminous information on patents, trademarks, copyrights, domain names and trade secrets. Includes a how-to section."

• Employment Laws Assistance, www.dol.gov/elaws25
"Especially for workers and small businesses, this Web site explains different laws and programs of the Department of Labor. It also offers electronic "advisors," Web applications through which one can find answers to questions and human resource dilemmas."

• Occupational Safety and Health Administration, www.osha.gov26
"An A-Z index on numerous subjects, including compliance assistance, eTools, grants, Hispanic workers, posters, recordkeeping, training, regulation standards, interpretations, directives, federal enforcement, local emphasis and whistleblowers."