Applies to
Microsoft Office 2000

So you want to create your own business. Where do you start? What tools do you need? Where can you find the tools you need? How can you use Office Update to help? This article will help you answer these questions and serve as your resource for defining and solving your business needs. You will find links to business-related templates to download and use with your Office programs, links to information about how Office programs can help you run your business, and links to Web sites that provide additional help and resources.

This article is organized into five major areas of interest for starting or growing a business — Planning, Operations, Legal, Finance, and Marketing, with two more-general small-business sections that include a variety of small-business Web links.

Planning

Microsoft Business Planner for Office 2000   Build a business plan. This customizable small-business reference program incorporates business planning tools and templates with practical information about running a business.

Operations

Microsoft Access 2000   The Office database component that enhances your business practices includes Internet- and intranet-related features, and works smoothly with other software.

Microsoft Small Business Customer Manager for Office 2000   Track customer and sales information. Customer Manager makes it easy to find the customer and product information you need to run a successful business.

Microsoft Outlook®   The Office messaging and collaboration client that combines the following industry-leading capabilities: electronic mail, personal calendar and group scheduling, personal information such as contacts and tasks, and custom collaboration and information-sharing applications.

Risk Assessment and Management   Learn how to identify the risks to your project in Microsoft Project. Find out how to evaluate and quantify these risks and how to resolve the problems that may arise from them.

Track Down Your Project   Learn how to use Microsoft Project to see how early work impacts later tasks, how to keep everyone working on a project effectively, how to control your budget, and manage change sensibly.

Microsoft Word   Use the added Web-related functionality in Word, such as full-fidelity Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) conversion, the ability to save documents directly to Web servers, and enhanced Web page creation features.

Legal

Microsoft Business Planner for Office 2000   Use this small-business reference program to find out about naming your business, licenses and permits, contracts, and more.

Finance

Microsoft Excel   The Office program that you can use to work efficiently with numerical data and remain competitive in a changing environment.

Microsoft Small Business Financial Manager for Office 2000   Make business decisions using reporting and analysis tools that use features in Excel.

Marketing

Microsoft FrontPage®   The Office program that gives you everything you need to easily create and manage great Web sites.

Microsoft Office 60-Minute Intranet Kit   This kit makes it easy to build workgroup Web sites by taking advantage of the new Web collaboration features in Office 2000 Premium.

Microsoft Office 2000 Web Components White Paper   The Office Web Components are a collection of Component Object Model (COM) controls for publishing spreadsheets, charts, and databases to the Web, taking full advantage of the rich interactivity provided by Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Microsoft Publisher   The Office business desktop publishing program, designed to help business users create professional-looking marketing materials.

Microsoft PowerPoint®   The Office presentation graphics program, created to be the easiest tool for creating presentations and for presenting to audiences, whether for face-to-face meetings, meetings conducted in remote locations, or for the Web.

Advanced Animation Techniques for Microsoft PowerPoint   Download this Microsoft PowerPoint presentation and learn some of the tips and tricks used by professional animators to get the most out of the animation capabilities in PowerPoint.

Creating Backgrounds for PowerPoint Slides   Download an illustrated HTML page describing step-by-step instructions to create background images for PowerPoint slides using Microsoft PhotoDraw®.

Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000   The Office program that combines photo editing and illustration in one easy-to-use program with an interface familiar to Office users. Add custom graphics to printed documents and Web pages without paying a graphic designer or struggling with professional design tools.

Creating Business Flyers with PhotoDraw 2000   Download the chapter "Creating Business Flyers" from the Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 Idea Book.

Designing Company Logos with PhotoDraw 2000   Download the chapter "Designing Company Logos" from the Microsoft PhotoDraw 2000 Idea Book.

PhotoDraw 2000 Communication Templates   Download 21 new templates with a Communication theme and common color scheme, for use with Microsoft PhotoDraw. The download includes additional cards, business graphics and Web graphics.

Microsoft Direct Mail Manager for Office 2000   Use Direct Mail Manager to purchase a mailing list, verify and correct U.S. addresses, check for duplicate addresses, and send documents and target lists to a mailing service for quick production.

Microsoft small-business Web sites

Microsoft bCentral   Visit this site featuring online services especially designed to help you get the most out of your small business.

MSN LinkExchange   Start, promote, and manage your Web site with help from the MSN™ LinkExchange Web site. Find out how to get your business online, then grow your online traffic and revenues.

Microsoft Business Advantage   Subscribe to the Microsoft Business Advantage Newsletter and receive bi-weekly links to technology solutions, resources, and services on the Microsoft Business Advantage Web site. Designed exclusively for small and medium-sized businesses, the Microsoft Business Advantage Newsletter also delivers advance notice of new Microsoft products, exclusive offers, and details on upcoming business and technology events.

Microsoft Business Planner for Office 2000   Use the Business Planner resource center for an extensive list of business-related Web sites, online business profiles, and much more.

Other small-business Web sites

Additional small-business Web sites