There are many different organizations that support small businesses and business in general. These organizations can be good resources for networking and mentoring by other business owners who are further along in the process than you are. Although some have membership fees, those fees should be tax-deductible. Check with your accountant to be sure. Also, many organizations that have membership fees offer member and non-member rates to attend conferences and events‹if you do not want to be member and don¹t expect to attend many events, it might be more cost-effective to just pay the non-member rate to attend a few events that are of use to you.

E-Mentoring on AskTheEmployer.com
Although this site primarily provides career-mentoring services, it can also be helpful for self-employed entrepreneurs. Simply select the area of business in which you are in and the state in which you live, and the database will provide a list of volunteers who have agreed to mentor by email.

London Entrepreneurial Education Association Small Business Mentoring Program
1764 Oxford Street East, London, Ontario, Canada, N5V 3R6
(519) 659-2882
Residents in and around London, Ontario, who wish to start a business can gain access to this program, which matches local business owners with new entrepreneurs. For $25 (Canadian), entrepreneurs register with the program, and then are only responsible for any costs incurred when they meet with their members, such as travel to and from the meeting.

The Lousiana Business Incubation Association
A directory of LBIA members is located on the web at . Business incubators often provide mentoring services for local startups, as well as training and funding opportunities.

Reach4It.com
Online mentoring is available through this website, which charges no fees for its services.

Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE)
409 3rd Street, S.W., 6th Floor, Washington, DC 20024
(800) 634-0245
One of the largest free mentoring resources is the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE), which works in partnership with the Small Business Administration to provide training and mentoring to entrepreneurs. There are 389 SCORE chapters in the United States and its territories, with more than 11,000 volunteers working to help prospective business owners get their dreams off the ground. In 1998, SCORE volunteers gave more then one million hours of time to free or reduced cost programs sponsored by chapters. If you do not live near a chapter, mentoring and counseling is available by email. SCORE's website also offers how-to workshops: articles full of tips on various aspects of starting and running a business.

Southern Oregon Women¹s Access to Credit
33 N. Central Avenue, Suite 209, Medford, OR 97501
(541) 779-3992
This organization, which serves both men and women, provides guidance and support to those who want to own their own business. SOWAC provides financial and educational assistance, and has an active mentoring program.

Women¹s Economic Development Agency
675 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 853-7680
Despite the name, this agency provides mentoring and educational services to all individuals.

Web Com
Reports from the Small Business Resource Center, including instructions on how to start businesses from a catering service to a mobile locksmithing business.