Young men and women intrigued by entrepreneurship can learn more about it during Global Entrepreneurship Week, November 17 to 23. 

The worldwide initiative is designed to inspire, connect, inform, mentor and engage the next generation of entrepreneurs, defined as people under 30 years old.

More than 60 countries around the world have signed on as participants. During the week, a series of events will be held on international, national and local levels. Activities will include invention competitions, entrepreneurship film festivals, networking events, school-based activities and local entrepreneurship summits.

While global in scope, at its heart the week is a local initiative reflecting the customs and entrepreneurial culture of each community. After all, what works in Boise, Idaho might be quite different from what works in Bangalore, India. For example, the Netherlands is launching its version of the week from the floor of Euronext, and Chile is planning a 10K race.

Global Entrepreneurship Week was initiated by the Kauffman Foundation in the U.S. and Make Your Mark in the United Kingdom. Global sponsors are Ernst & Young, IBM and NYSE.

For more information, visit the website. --Eve Gumpel

Self-made billionaire Bill Bartmann, an entrepreneur who started seven different businesses, is launching a resource guide aimed at keeping business owners from failing during an economic recession.

At a cost of $100-per-year, business owners or would-be entrepreneurs get access to tips ranging from "what business should you be in" and "how to expand your business" to "basic steps to borrowing money."

More than 30 tutorials presented by Bartmann come with the package. Lecture topics include:

• How to write a clearly defined objective. Determine what you want to accomplish and how to propose a business plan.
• How to write a clear marketing plan. Who will buy, why they'll buy and how they'll find out you even exist.
• How to reduce operational expenses and increase your marketing budget proportionally. Learn how to get a higher return for money spent.

For more information, please visit www.billionaireu.com. --Elizabeth Wilson

You've got to love networking on Facebook--its 21 million users do--and now small businesses can get some advertising on the site for free, according to the Associated Press.

Small-business owners should know that the behemoth San Francisco-based Visa is investing in networking, and becoming one of Facebook's 24,000-plus applications already added to the site in the past 13 months.

Visa Business Network debuted Tuesday on Facebook, and the first 20,000 small businesses in the United States that join will be given $100 in advertising credit to use on the site. That adds up to $2 million worth of free advertising Visa will pump into the small business world.

The hang-out site that still has leaps and bounds to go to prove its advertising worth gets the powerful hand of Visa marketing added to its resume in the new business network's launch.

There, entrepreneurs can swap virtual business cards, connect with the 80,000-plus small business owners already on Facebook and even seal business deals.

One of the interactive elements provided by the network includes a Q&A feature headed by five of Entrepreneur's expert columnists who are there to offer solutions to small businesses. --Elizabeth Wilson

If you're mechanically and environmentally inclined, a $10 million prize could soon be yours. The X Prize Foundation is offering $10 million for a super-efficient car. The competition is open to established automakers and unknown engineers, and it's meant to result in cars available for purchase, not just concept cars.

So far, more than 60 teams have signed up for the competition. The winners will participate in a cross-country race in 2009, in which they'll be judged on fuel efficiency, speed, distance and other factors. For more information, check out the website for the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize.

Do you think your business idea has what it takes to shake up the business world, but not enough money to make it happen? Then prepare your elevator pitch for PerfectBusiness.com's National Pitch Challenge. The goal of the competition is to find the best business ideas in the U.S., and fund at least 25 businesses across the country. The top 10 pitches will receive a business prize package, consulting services and funding from angel investors and venture capitalists.

"We're looking for serious business ideas from capable entrepreneurs," said Dan Bliss, co-founder of PerfectBusiness.com. "Most professional investors are interested in startups or existing businesses that have potential for rapid growth and large returns on investment."

The top ten pitches will be determined by a panel of business experts and investors. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. Submissions will be accepted from September 1 through December 31, 2008. Winners will be announced on February 2, 2009. Check out the official website for more information. Good luck!

Is traditional desktop software a thing of the past? According to a recent survey conducted by online payroll service SurePayroll, it is--at least for small business. Instead, many small businesses are choosing to use web-based software that better allows them to compete with big businesses. In fact, three out of four entrepreneurs surveyed said they rely on online software, which enables them to work in an online environment in place of purchasing or licensing software.

SurePayroll's survey cited benefits to online software such as convenient access, the fact that they don't need internal support for the software, and fast and easy implementation.

When looking to the future, 75 percent of survey respondents predicted that in 10 years, desktop software will be eliminated, and all applications will exist on servers that can be accessed remotely.

Summer is quickly approaching, but for entrepreneurs, that doesn't necessarily mean vacation is on the horizon. If you're trading in margaritas and summer novels for coffee and file folders, add SCORE's "Summer Finance Fix-up" to your to-do-list. SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" announced a special home page feature this month focusing on business financing articles, workshops and other resources. The content should help small-business owners better manage cash flow and funds critical to business success.

Here are some free resources to check out:

· Creating a Cash Reserve: Find practical ideas and tactics to create a cash reserve in your business.

· Guide to Managing Cash Flow: Improve your understanding of how to manage your company's cash flow, measure the amount of cash on hand and prepare for cash flow shortfalls in the future.

· Five Tips on Getting a Loan and Five Tips on Approaching Your Bank: Learn how to use a business plan to get the bank loans you need. Get tips on how to evaluate your business, plus what lenders look for when making a decision to loan you money.

· Five Grant Resources for Small Businesses: Find out if there are any federal, state or local grants that may be appropriate for your type of business.

· How to Pay Business Debts You Can't Afford: This 16-page workbook from SCORE and Corporate Turnaround helps small businesses survive when facing economic and financial challenges.

If you're wondering how the economic stimulus package can help you grow and expand your business, check out SBA's new tax savings resource center. The website includes a fact sheet with a clear explanation of small business tax benefits gained from the package, in addition to a depreciation calculator and an online seminar.

The economic stimulus package includes the following tax incentives for businesses:

• A 50 percent bonus depreciation allowance on equipment purchased and placed in service in calendar 2008.
• An almost 100 percent increase in the amount that a business can expense for equipment purchased and placed in the business tax year beginning in 2008 (from $128,000 to $250,000).

"The stimulus package is designed to spur the economy by putting money back into the pockets of American workers and encouraging small businesses to invest and expand," SBA acting administrator Jovita Carranza said. "However, many small-business owners are unaware of how it can boost their bottom line. In the roundtables I held with dozens of small-business owners last week on tax policy, many were amazed to learn how much their companies could benefit from the temporary tax incentives in the package."

Ever wish you could write your own ballad or successfully grow a garden of annuals on top of running a successful business? The internet, again, brings answers. This time in the form of Quamut.com, a site of brief-yet-thorough how-to guides that can be viewed online, for free, or downloaded for a small fee. You can learn everything from how to tie a square knot to how to play golf. It also offers business "how-tos" that entrepreneurs may find helpful, like how to have proper business etiquette and build a website.

Quamut.com also has a QuamutWiki feature where users can share their own how-to-guides on topics of their choosing. This could be an opportunity to explain your industry in laymen's terms and build trust in your company's expertise.--Whitney Chen

Natural disasters have been front-page news around the world this spring, and are being chalked up as the deadliest to date. Yet, four out of 10 business professionals admit to not being prepared for a disaster. A new national survey of 5,000 business professionals, conducted by Office Depot, sought answers. The survey found that unprepared business professionals say readiness-planning isn't a priority, that it's too expensive and that they don't know how to adequately prepare.

"What’s most alarming about the survey findings is that the prevailing attitudes are steeped in misperceptions," says Jon Toigo, a disaster-recovery expert based in Tampa, Florida who works with Office Depot to help educate small businesses about important preparedness measures. "A $1 piece of media, like a CD-R, to store important data such as key customer lists, vendor details and presentations, could make a big difference in being able to keep your business running.  And it doesn’t take but minutes to back up your data on a regular basis."

According to Toigo, the key to effective planning is to protect your most valuable assets: your people and your data. When developing your preparedness plan, Toigo recommends small-business owners build solid contact lists, including at least five different forms of contact per employee. As for data, he recommends backing up the data your business can't live without and moving it off-site. For larger storage needs, Toigo suggests products that allow you to grab your data and go, like the Ativa 4GB Flash Drive and the Maxtor External Hard Drive.

To learn more about solutions for protecting your people and your data, download a free copy of a guide Toigo helped author called Expecting the Unexpected: Disaster Preparedness Strategies for the Small Business. The guide also provides preparation checklists and guidelines on how to get started.

Understanding the process of finding government contracting opportunities can seem daunting to small-business owners. That's why the SBA is offering a live web chat to help answer small business government contracting questions this Thursday, May 29 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EDT.

The chat, titled "How to Do Business with the Federal Government" will be hosted by Fay Ott, associate administrator for government contracting and business development. Ott will respond to questions on how small-businesses owners can gain access to the federal marketplace, walk through the procurement process and explain how to register a small business into the Central Contractor Registration database.

To join the live web chat, go to sba.gov and click on "Your Small Business Voice Online Chat." If you want to ask Ott a question, visit here before May 29 to post your question online.

SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" has teamed up with The Company Corporation to offer two free small business workbooks to the first 1,000 people to sign up for the "How-To Workbooks Giveaway."

The books focus on starting and structuring a business. How to Really Start Your Own Business specifically covers topics important to aspiring small-business owners, including business plans, finance options and infrastructure support. How to Really Structure Your Business details the options that small-business owners have, such as selecting a state to incorporate in and how this can affect marketing options.

To sign up, go to the SCORE website, click on "How-To Workbooks Giveaway," then complete the "Contact Us" form by entering your name, street address and e-mail address. Click "Submit," and you'll receive your free copies of each workbook in two to four weeks.

Although eBay may have popularized the idea of bidding on items online, one nonprofit organization is auctioning off business advice and networking time. The Consortium of African American Organizations (CAAO) is hosting a silent online auction, offering one-on-one sessions with more than 80 CEOs, executives and celebrities. 

Users can bid on the specific people they wish to talk to, or opt for the "Buy Now" option to beat the competition of last-minute bids. The proceeds will go toward CAAO's educational and youth programs.

So while you can't put a price on knowledge, personalized business advice from leaders in your industry may offer the insight or partnership that launches your business to lasting sales.--Jessica Chen

Are you considering franchising your business but don't know where to start? Then check out the new online course offered by the SBA and FranNet, called "Franchising Basics." It's a free online seminar that will help you better understand franchising and decide if it's the best small-business option for you.

To view the course, visit the SBA website and select the "Free Online Training" icon. Look under the "Starting a Business" section, where you'll find the link to "Franchising Basics." Once you've registered, you can review the course at your own pace, and you'll receive a certificate upon completion.

Creative thinking, drive and passion often come easily to entrepreneurs. However, technological savvy and the time needed to read Syndicating Web Sites With RSS Feeds For Dummies or Wikipedia's entry on "Web 2.0," often does not. That's where Lee and Sachi LeFever and The Common Craft Show step in. Since 2007, the duo has been making short, semi-animated videos translating tech-talk, like RSS, wikis, and podcasting, into laymen's terms.

The videos not only catch you up to the dizzying speed of technological advances, but also can be used as tools for business. They can create custom videos to train employees, explain a new product or campaign, or simply provide a fun addition to your business's website. The show is free for personal viewing, but better-quality, downloadable, licensed versions are available for purchase.

Marci Alboher's "Shifting Careers" blog of The New York Times makes a case for wikis and uses a video from Common Craft as one way to simplify technology and use it for your business endeavors. --Whitney Chen