I need to know where to start when opening a small business

ScottGem

Depends on the type of business, where its located, what it does, etc. You need to give us more info to help.

A couple of good resources are score.org and sba.gov.

ordinaryguy

First, figure out who your customers are and who your competitors are. Then figure out how you can serve your customers better than your competitors do, at a cost that is as low or lower than theirs.

jawatkins

First, you want to look at yourself. What skills and knowledge are you bring to the table. Second , is it something you enjoy doing, why start something you don't enjoy. you will be putting in the time, energy, and money into it. So do some soul searching first. After that, if there are other businesses in your area doing the same thing, go and talk with them. The main question you want to ask is- if they had to do it off over again would they? Some owners will be helpful and some will not.