Being an emerging business ourselves, we would cherish, even pay for a good source of Web-based small business management information. Not that there isn’t a lot available online. A search on “small business” on AltaVista turns up 415,000 documents.

But which of those hundreds of thousands of sources provides concise and accurate information? Small business magazines such as Inc. provide a wealth of general articles and case studies but lack specific regional resources needed by businesses (e.g., sources for business liability insurance in Omak). A bank, or anyone else for that matter, could make a name for themselves online by providing vital small business resources in an unbiased fashion.

Our September report detailed 45 online programs that financial institutions could offer business clients including these five non-financial areas:

Non-Financial Business Services

• virtual shipping center
• virtual research center
• virtual professional services center
• virtual customer network
• virtual business concierge

In September, we were surprised to find that only 19 banks showed up on Yahoo when searching on “small business” and “bank.” We are even more surprised to find the number remains little changed six months later.

One reason more banks aren’t offering small business services is that they are difficult to make relevant and keep up-to-date. It can also be difficult for a bank officer to put themselves in the shoes of a small business owner. For those reasons, we recommend using either a Webmaster-in-Residence or outsourcing the area to small business experts. Corestates www.corestates.com used the latter approach, licensing their excellent small business area from Entrepreneurial Edge Online www.edgeonline.com