Building a business from scratch - things I've found useful

I want to turn my idea into a business, but not spend heaps of money especially before I know if it will work or not. What's got this idea from idea stage to potential business stage is because I wasn't working much and needed to be doing something productive. I know you have to spend money to make money, but I figure if I learn how to do a lot of stuff myself, then I know how to do it again. It will take longer, and I know I will have to play around a lot to get to something that looks professional as a business, but I had the time to put into it anyway.

But I was starting from NO business experience! So here are some things I have found/am finding useful.

I attended a 'Small Business Enterprise Training' course at Vision Manawatu (www.visionmanawatu.co.nz) presented by business mentor Dave Gaynor (www.frdevelopment.co.nz). I would thoroughly recommend attending a business course if you can. It's not only learning from people who know about what you are doing, but you can meet other people who are doing a similar thing. It can create great supports.

I have found some great books at the library.

• 'Lessons of a Lipstick Queen' by Poppy King (www.lipstickqueen.com/book.htm). A fun, easy to read book about the story of a girl with a idea who built an empire. Very inspiring and lots of great tips.
• 'Brain Tatoos - Creating unique brands that stick to your customers brains' by Karen Post (www.braintatoo.com). Lots of really great tips, it will change the way you see branding and marketing for yourself, and in what you see around you.
• I designed my logo and other design elements with Adobe Illustrator. A trail version is available for a month trial at www.adobe.com

That's a few things I've found helpful on my steep learning curve of a journey so far!