Am I right in guessing that you have one or more great ideas for starting a business? Perhaps a part-time or micro-business you’d like to run on the side of your regular job or a larger venture you hope will replace it.

(Maybe it’s the business you’re going to start instead of looking for a new job….)

In any case, I hope it’s a business that matches your interests and strengths, one that will support you in realizing your highest goals.

One of the vital steps in planning your business will be finding the funds needed to launch and fund it for a specific amount of time.

Here are a few resources I want to share with you to calculate those costs. Each of these links offers a different slant on figuring out start-up costs and will be useful, no matter where you live.

In my free report “How to Find Start-Up Cash and Select a Winning Business Idea”, I mentioned a few valuable resources such as the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) which offers a helpful business planning tool.

Gov.UK has a great website with all kinds of information and resources for UK start-ups.

Business Know How has an online calculator that makes it a snap to look at one-time start-up costs and ongoing monthly expenses.

Finally, Idea Cafe has a section called “Financing Your Business” which includes a first year budget worksheet with start-up costs that includes both a business and personal section.

Here are some easy action steps to get you going:

1) Schedule a few 10-30 minute appointments with yourself over the next few days to play with one or more of these tools.

Since they’re on your computer, it will be a breeze to adjust your calculations as you learn more about the different businesses you may be considering.

2) Most importantly: start looking for people already working in a similar successful business (maybe in a different location or slightly different niche) who may be willing to give some advice about your business idea and start-up costs.

If they’re out of town, ask if you could schedule a 15-minute phone call and prepare a few key questions to ask. If they live in town, offer to take them out for breakfast or lunch.

Successful people love to help others; it makes them feel good. And the time you spend talking with them could end up saving you tens of thousands of dollars and hours.

Finally, remember it’s OK to make mistakes when you’re starting out.

Every successful entrepreneur has made countless mistakes and overcome countless failures.

The important thing was that they took action…and so can you. Let me know what you’ve done in the comments below and congratulations on getting started!