Subject Guide: Business: Entrepreneurship

• Business Entities | California Secretary of State

  The Business Entities Section of the Secretary of State's office processes filings, maintains records and provides information to the public relating to business entities (corporations, limited liability companies, limited partnerships, general partnerships, limited liability partnerships and other business filings).

• California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development

  The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) serves as the State of California’s leader for job growth, economic development and business assistance efforts. We offer no cost consultation for incentive identification, site selection, regulatory or permitting compliance assistance, foreign direct investment and export assistance.

• Small Business Administration The SBA connects entrepreneurs with lenders and funding to help them plan, start and grow their business.

• Small Business | USAGov

  Learn the steps to start a small business, get financing help from the government, and more.

Our Academic Videos Online Database has over 1,000 videos for various aspects of Entrepreneurship.

Under "Fields of Interest", choose "Entrepreneurship".

As a BC Student you have access to courses through LinkedIn Learning. LinkedIn Learning is an online service with video courses and tutorials to develop business, technology-related, and creative skills. If you search for "business plan", you will find that there are a number of videos and tutorials on this subject. In LinkedIn Learning, there are also series of video courses strung together called Learning Paths. One of the Learning Paths is "Become a Small Business Owner," which includes planning, financial projections, and other aspects of small business. 

• Author John Maxwell: Maxwell Leadership (website)

• Author: Patrick Lencioni (Sources from BC Library collection) and look for his At the Table Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. 

• Author: Simon Sinek (Sources from BC Library collection) and the Optimism Company (Website)

Library Resources for Business Plans

A great way to start a business plan is to look at business plans written by entrepreneurs or small business owners in your industry. For 55 years, Gale has compiled actual business plans written by business people across North America into a publication called the "Business Plans Handbook." The entire Business Plans Handbook series is available in the Business Collection in the Gale eBooks database, and it can be searched by keyword once you open the series. The link takes you to the 2023 volume, however, you can "Search within publication" for "all volumes".

 The Gale Business - Entrepreneurship database has a number of topic collections related to business planning. The How to Write A Business Plan collection of sources include sample business plans, recommended resources,magazine and journal articles, news articles, web sites, and more. 

Here is a link to a tutorial video for Gale Business: Entrepreneurship - Business Plans

Website for Business Plans

• Bplans.com

  Bplans.com has over 500 sample business plans from businesses in various industries. These plans can be searched by category or keyword. Bplans.com has a business plan template that can be downloaded as a word document. Make sure to cite your source(s) to avoid plagiarism. 

• Bakersfield Californian Directory of Community Business Associations
• City of Bakersfield
• Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Business
• Kern County - Business. Kern County is committed to supporting local businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs. Here you will find all of the information you need to start and develop a successful business in Kern County.
• Kern Women's Business Center Helping women, low-income, minority, and non-profit businesses gain the knowledge they need to start and run successful businesses.
• Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at CSUB promotes the development, growth and success of small businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs.