If you're just starting out, the Starting a Business section from Canada Business is a one-stop introduction to starting a business.

• It can help you explore and develop your business ideas and write your business plan.
• The Checklist and guides for starting a business is an excellent overview of the process.  It will help your planning greatly.
• Read BDC's short articles on The low-down on a great start-up and BDC Perspective: The essential ins for starting out.

Self assessment
Are you the entrepreneur type?

• Tapping into your "inner" entrepreneur. Read more.
• Try this online quiz from BDC and find out what others have said about becoming an entrepreneur.

Will it be profitable?
You may have great ideas and talent, but you should do a quick check of how much it will cost to set up your business and when you can expect it to make a profit (your breakeven point). This start-up costs calculator can help.

• At this point, it's fine to estimate your expenses. For inspiration, check out these example business plans (See Step 2 to find out more about business plans).

Explore ideas

• The guide to Government of Canada services and support for small business offers the tools entrepreneurs need to prosper in the new economy.
• Find out how you could look for windows of opportunity, consult BDC's article Turning your idea into a succesful business.
• Is your idea original? Search over 1,400,000 patents from the last 75 years in the Canadian Patents Database.
• These online business magazines have articles that are particularly useful for start-ups:
  • Profitguide.com, from Profit Magazine, especially their startups section;
  • CanadaOne Magazine, with searchable articles at the bottom of the page;
  • Entrepreneur.com, especially their start-up section;
  • StartupJournal from The Wall Street Journal;
  Next step: Your business plan