One-on-One Consultations - Our Business Consultants are available for clients to meet with and discuss their questions relating to entrepreneurship and business ideas. There is no charge for consultations. To book your appointment, contact our office. 

Business Banking and Credit Discussion
A one hour overview of steps towards a successful credit discussion with any lender.  Points of interest include:  different credit solutions, the importance of investing in your own business, and being a good credit risk. These are casual, interactive small groups of five or less. Get more information or Register Online Now!

Access to Professionals - The Access to Professionals Program can connect you with a local professional for a free 45 minute consultation. Professionals in our group include lawyers and accountants, marketing, human resources, insurance, import/export, website, e-business experts and business coaches. E-mail Halton Region's Small Business Centre to speak with one of our small business consultants to book your consultation.

RBC Mobile Banking Program – a team through the Halton Market is bringing financial advice to clients, either at their place of business or at the Halton Region Small Business Centre. A senior account manager will provide you and your company with the financial expertise and solutions that will ensure continued growth and success. E-mail Halton Region's Small Business Centre for more details.

RBC Royal Bank's Definitive Guide Series  offers concise, practical information for all stages of your business and covers a wide-range of topics relevant for small business management.

Reference and Lending Library  - Our Reference and Lending Library is kept current and furnished with reference books as well as free up-to-date government publications on a variety of business topics. You may borrow many of the books or review the material on site.  Please call ahead to ensure your book of choice is available.

Research Computer Stations - 3 computer stations are available in our Resource Centre.  All three computers have access to the Internet and Microsoft Office®. We have a variety of desktop publishing software to create business stationary. We also have two high quality graphics colour printers, and an all-in-one printer/copier/scanner/fax machine.

Halton Region Small Business Centre's Guide to Starting a Business (154KB) has
relevant start-up information and links to external websites. 

Provincial Guide to Small Business  Your six-part guide to starting a small business.

Halton Region Small Business Centre's Business Planning Template (Microsoft Word, 198KB) & Financial Package (Microsoft Excel, 178KB) These business plan templates are meant to provide a basic outline for business planning purposes. Please feel free to use, modify, and enhance this outline as you see fit. Most business plans cover common topics, but formats tend to vary; this is simply one way to look at the business plan and cover off all of the critical sections in a format that is easy to follow. 

Additional Business Plan Templates let you prepare a professional business plan - a necessity when seeking financing for your project.  Some sample templates include:

• Canadian Banks Business Plans - Templates and Samples 

Halton Region Small Business Centre has print and electronic copies of sample business plans for use.

Information on Government Regulations - The Small Business Resource Centre has either the answer of the contact information for all your government and regulatory questions - whether it's taxes, municipal licenses, workplace safety and insurance, or special Provincial regulatory licenses.  Contact our office - we're your one-stop referral service. 

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disibilities  
Ontario is developing accessibility standards to identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities have more opportunities to participate in everything this province has to offer.  The Accessibility Standards for Customer Service Regulation is now the law.  The province's private and not-for-profit sectors will need to meet the requirements by 2012.

Ontario Business Name Search and Registration/Renewal - Registering/Renewing a Sole Proprietorship, General Partnership, or Corporate Style Name can be done at the Halton Region Small Business Centre. We have a computer workstation available for business name searches and registrations. Service at our Centre is available Monday - Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m.  Fees:  Name Search - $8.00; Name Registration - $60.00.  

 BizPaL (Business Permits and Licences) is an online service that simplifies the business permit and licences process for entrepreneurs, governments, and third party business service providers. 

Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade  
  
Canada Business  - The information gateway for business to access federal and provincial programs for small business. 

Provincial Business Guides  for starting small businesses in Ontario 
These guides include "Info Guides" designed to help navigate through federal and provincial government program services, "How-To" guides designed to provide an understanding of potential licence, permit or registration requirements for specific types of businesses in Ontario, as well as "Multilingual documents" available in 13 languages on topics including business plan guide, forms of business organization, e-business, etc.

Ontario Business Program Guide  is your resource for Ontario government programs for small and medium-sized businesses. 

Halton Region Public Libraries Online Databases 17KB - The public libraries of Halton Region offer many services to support small business owners and operators. Among those services are free online databases.