Start a Business
To inquire about business consulting, choose a WESST center closest to your location.
Living an independent, entrepreneurial lifestyle can be one of life’s great joys. However, building a small business requires a special mindset and careful guidance to build strong and sustainable businesses.
At WESST, we have the tools to bring your business idea to reality. We provide Consulting, Training and Lending to anyone - whether you have a new product or service, want to break out on your own in your existing field, or have an innovative idea to improve existing offerings in the marketplace.
Why WESST?
At WESST, we have developed a process for helping our clients truly understand what it takes to start, grow and build a thriving, sustainable business. We start with "strategy first, tools second" to help our clients implement financial, marketing and organizational systems that support the entrepreneur AND the business. Our talented employees undergo a rigorous hiring process in order to provide only the best business advisors and trainers. Our employees are 100% committed to providing the best opportunities for our clients to succeed.
WESST staff are all dedicated to our Mission, Vision and Values (LINK) and will work with anyone who is committed to the process of exploring, developing and living entrepreneurship. We work with clients at every stage of business from pre-venture to mature, from 1 to 100 (or more) employees and can provide business consulting, training, lending, incubation and digital media production.
Thinking of Starting a Business?
Quiz: Should You Start A Business?
This quiz will help you evaluate whether starting a business fits well with your personality and skills.
Business Planning
Thinking through your business idea carefully and putting together a solid business plan is essential for every entrepreneur. This is true whether or not you need to raise money to start up your business—even if you don’t need to approach a bank or other lender, putting your business plan into writing is a key step in the path to success. Here you’ll find a sample business plan, a detailed outline, and several worksheets to walk you through this vital process.
Free Tools: Startup Risk Calculator; and a Startup Valuation Calculator
These free easy-to-use Crowdfunding Tools from EquityNet* are designed to help companies less than four years old analyze valuate their businesses before they engage investors. Both tools are based on the company’s patented Enterprise Analyzer™ technology. The Startup Risk Calculator helps entrepreneurs better understand their business risk and improve their odds of business success. The Startup Valuation Calculator helps entrepreneurs estimate, compare, and better understand their business valuation.
*EquityNet recently received a perfect 5-star rating by Crowdfunding Website Reviews. The independent review rated EquityNet as the number one crowdfunding support service website. The company has been recognized by Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, Bloomberg, Worth Magazine, CNET, and other journals as the inventor and pioneer of equity crowdfunding.