Free Small Business Help and Resources

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About BUZ
About Our History

Once upon a time in a land far, far away economic development was alive and well because of an action hero committed to collectively helping more individuals start, grow and succeed in business...

Chapter 2
Unidentified Flying Object

STORY CONTINUED from Chapter I

offered Snow in an astonished tone. "One minute the sky was a clear blue and the next, came this flash of bright color."

After witnessing the flash of color, Snow explains that this creature appeared in the doorway of her salon. In her own words, she describes the creature as "looking like a worker bee on steroids." Had it not been for what happened next, Snow admitted that she was considering admitting herself into a mental institution for stress monitoring.

"Hello, I am Captain Buz," said the creature. "I am here to help you and your business get through these difficult economic times by showing you where and how to connect with available local business assistance."

Apparently, Snow's business traffic had fallen off dramatically due to tough economic times that were affecting everyone in the community. A significant employer had closed down and many people were moving away from the area in search of new jobs.

Where she needed to find ways to attract new customers and fast, Captain Buz introduced her to a resource network at www.buzgate.org, where she learned about a range of free business assistance programs in areas of business development and marketing.

Snow selected a program located right down the street from her and gave them a call. By the end of the week, she had met with the program representative and had established a business development strategy for expanding the salon's offerings to include additional services, such as therapeutic massage and pedicures. Through demographic research assistance also found in buzgate.org, Snow learned that many people in the community were also stressed about the economy. By adding services that helped people to relax and running an ad in the local paper, she was able to increase business by 26% in the first week.

"I still recall Captain Buz's parting words," Snow says, "run your business, don't let it run you."

Chapter 3
The Adventures of Captain Buz
What's your business success story? Have you used buzgate.org to connect with available free local help to grow your business? Do you need help from Captain Buz? Write and tell us about it.

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Buzgate.org is an award-winning public service initiative created to facilitate awareness, access and use of free small business help offered by America's government and nonprofit small business assistance agencies on a local, regional and national scale.

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