The best part is that much of the advising is offered at no cost to the business owner. (Indirectly they've paid for it through taxes.)

The Small Business Administration funds several groups that advise people on starting and operating a business. While each group has a different emphasis, they all work together to provide small-business owners assistance.

The Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) was the first group formed by the SBA in 1964 to assist people with starting a business. SCORE is made up of volunteers who formerly owned businesses or were involved with banking and can offer their expertise.

SCORE has four offices in the Las Vegas Valley and more than 40 volunteers who assist small-business owners. Small-business owners can meet with SCORE counselors at the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Henderson Business Resource Center, City Centre Place in downtown Las Vegas and UNLV.

The SBA added another group to its offerings in 1976 to help establish small-business owners in a setting that was not run by volunteers, SBA Nevada District Director John Scott said.

The Small Business Development Center, which operates in conjunction with colleges and universities, was formed by the SBA to help small-business owners looking to grow, overcome an operational challenge or unload the company.

The Nevada Small Business Development Center was established in 1985 at UNR and operates Southern Nevada offices at the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, Henderson Business Resource Center and UNLV. There is also an office at Nevada Power that handles environmental requirements for small firms.

"If a person just has an idea and that's about it and they don't want to go through our classes, then we will refer them directly to SCORE," said Michael Graham, deputy state director of the Nevada Small Business Development Center.

Neither SCORE nor the Nevada Small Business Development Center lend money, but they can answer financial questions.

The other two small-business resources available to Nevadans are the Nevada Microenterprise Initiative and the Nevada Women's Business Center, which are operated out of the same office and run by Anna Siefert.

The Nevada Microenterprise Initiative is a microlender that provides loans to small-business owners who have been denied bank financing. The loans are subject to qualification and range from $500 to $35,000.

"Many times we're dealing with single parents, people of low to moderate income and people of various minority backgrounds," Scott said, adding that many of the firms are home-based businesses.

In exchange for the loans, the small-business owners receive counseling or take classes to learn about running their businesses.

The SBA formed the various groups to "make sure we are serving all aspects of American society as much as we could," Scott said.

The Nevada Women's Business Center was established to counsel women, who are more comfortable talking with other women, Scott said.

In addition to one-on-one counseling sessions, all of the Nevada groups offer low-cost seminars that teach small-business owners about various aspects of starting and operating a business.

"The average citizen has already paid for these programs and services and our challenge is to make sure they are aware of it and to take advantage of it," Scott said.

In other small-business news:

• The SBA is seeking nominations for its 2006 small business awards. Nominations are due to the SBA's Nevada District office by Nov. 4. Awards are given to outstanding minority, women, veteran and home-based firms. For more information, contact Nanette Randolph at 388-6683 or at Nanette.Randolph@ sba.gov.

• Office Depot recently launched a virtual switchboard that enables small firms to communicate as professionally as large corporations. The service enables business owners to link office and cell phones to one main number for customer convenience for $90.95 per month. More information is available at http://officedepot.telcomsvc.com/wireless.

• SCORE has partnered with Offices2Share.com for a contest that enables small-business owners to give the top 10 reasons why they should move out of their home offices. The winner receives 12 months of rent -- up to a $12,000 value -- at no cost to the business owner in an office outside of the home. Contest information and entries are available at www.offices2share.com/contest. The contest ends Feb. 28.

Michelle Swafford covers health care and small business for In Business Las Vegas and its sister publication, the Las Vegas Sun. She can be reached by e-mail at swafford@lasvegassun.com or at (702) 259-2326.