If you're considering starting your own business, or just generally doing research in the subject of entrepreneurship, you will certainly want to do some research first before making any big decision. Many of the other resources in this guide will be helpful in getting this research started. For example, if you're looking to gain insights on your potential consumers, you will need to do some demographics research first. However, when you're starting a business, you might also need some more specialized tools to help you put together a business plan, find funding, and get other types of support to help your business jump start and grow.

Developing a business plan is a great way to set a strong foundation for how your business will start and grow. The following resources offer advice on writing a business plan and sample plans to give you a sense of what yours can look like.

Depending on what your business idea is, you'll likely want to look at the other pages in this guide to develop different parts of your plan. You may also want to look to some of the following resources for more in depth details, such as materials costs and properties.

As you further develop your business idea, something that might help is to look at existing patents and trademarks depending on what your idea is. This will help you determine if your product is an original one. It can also give you insight into the competition and what other ideas are emerging in the relevant industry.

Once you're at the stage where you're ready to move forward with your business idea, you will likely need some support to make it happen! This can take the form of funding, or it can be an incubator or accelerator that offers you more structure to get your idea off the ground. Support can come from a wide variety of places, so this is not an exhaustive list. However, this will help you identify potential opportunities here in Houston, across the state of Texas, and in the United States at large.

To learn more about the venture capital industry, check out the resources below.