Features, Tools and Gadgets

Business.gov offers a number of unique search tools and features that help small business owners, start, manage, and expand their operations while staying compliant with laws and regulations.

Online Community

Business.gov is engaging citizens by offering the first Online Community sponsored by a government agency. The Community allows small business owners and industry and government experts to discuss and share information that helps small businesses succeed. Visit the About the Community page to learn more on how the Community helps the nation's small business.

The Business.gov Community also provides RSS feeds for all of our discussion boards and blogs, allowing all the Community content to be accessed in the RSS reader of your choice.  For a list of the RSS feeds Business.gov publishes, visit the RSS Feeds page.

Business Search Engine

Business.gov offers a unique business search engine that quickly and easily finds information from federal, state and local government web sites. You no longer need to visit multiple government websites to find information you need.

E-mail Updates

Business.gov offers free e-mail updates to keep you up to date on issues important to running your business. Each week Business.gov sends updates on a variety of topics from starting a business to operating a home-based business and much more. Business.gov also sends a quarterly newsletter, Small Biz Briefing, that informs subscribers of small business news and information.

Loans and Grants Search Tool

From businesses in rural communities to hi-tech Silicon Valley start-ups, from women-owned enterprises to those affected by hurricanes, Business.gov provides a wealth of information on financial programs to help business get started or expand their operations. Small business owners no longer have to navigate multiple federal, state and local government websites to find financing programs that apply to them. Answer a short a survey about your business, and the Loans and Grants Search Tool will provide a list of programs for which you may qualify with links to eligibility and application information.

Licenses and Permits Search Tool

Our Permit Me tool allows you get a listing of federal, state and local business licenses and permits you'll need to operate your business.

Resource Guides

Business.gov provides easy access to resources and programs that help small business owners understand legal steps to starting and operating their businesses. In addition, these guides provide information on government programs that help small businesses expand their operations into federal and state government contract and exporting to overseas markets.

• Start & Manage a Business
• Register, Licenses & Permits
• Finance & Taxes
• Expand a Business / Business Opportunities
• Stay Compliant with Laws & Regulations
• Industry Guides
• State & Local Resources

State and Local Guides

Through its State and Local Guides, Business.gov provides access to over 9,000 official U.S. city government resources in addition to business information from all 50 states and territories. These state guides include information on complying with state and local regulations, and programs for starting and managing a business.

Small Business Videos

Business.gov aggregates videos from government agencies, and publishes them on its YouTube® channel. These videos are embedded on pages throughout the Business.gov website to help business owners comply with regulations and learn about government programs and services that support small businesses.

Videos published on Business.gov comply with our Access for People with Disabilities guidelines, which includes compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. All videos are closed-captioned and full functional for visually impaired viewers who use screen readers and keyboard controls to access content on the Web.

Webmasters may download Business.gov's Section 508 Compliant YouTube Video Player to provide access to people with disabilities on their own site.

Gadgets

Business.gov has several online "gadgets" that allow you to embed government information on your own website or iGoogle homepage.  These interactive tools give you immediate access to:  information from federal, state and local governments that can help you run your business; current discussions on the Business.gov Community; and the latest updates regarding business taxes.

Web Service API

Business.gov's Web Service API provides methods for obtaining small business resources and geographic data used by Business.gov's core search tools including its award-winning state and local search engine, loans and grants search, and licenses and permits search.

Using Business.gov's API, software developers can build new applications and mashups using authoritative information from Federal, state and local government agencies. The API is free of charge, does not require registration, and allows for unlimited calls.

Social Media

Business.gov is active on a number of popular social media outlets:

• Twitter (@businessdotgov) where Business.gov has thousands of followers
• YouTube where users can comment on our latest videos
  
• Facebook and LinkedIn where users can connect with all of the resources available as a part of Business.gov.