Sarah Needleman wrote a GREAT column recently in the Wall Street Journal about small businesses joining
forces to promote each other’s businesses. Read her column here.
This is great food for thought for virtually any small business owner who may think (as we often do) that they need to do everything independently and even re-invent the wheel, especially when it comes to getting the word out about the business. Advertising, a website, social media – oy! It ...
Whoever first came up with ‘Cash is king’ knew what he or she was talking about! It must have been a small business owner, because cash is e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g to a small business. When it’s plentiful, the business hums along great. On the other hand, when it’s in short supply, things can really get dicey. And a lot of small businesses spend a lot of time swinging between the two.
Obviously, the health of your cash flow ...
See if any of these scenarios sound familiar—or even plausible—for your own small business.
Ted was surprised and elated that the coffee shop next door was moving into a larger space across town. He
desperately wanted to rent that space and expand his clothing store. He knew he needed at least six months’ to a year’s worth of rent and had to act fast. But he also knew he just didn’t have the cash.
Or how about this? ...
Just the thought of April 15 strikes fear in the heart of everyone, and small businesses are no exception. But here’s
a bit of good news: Because April 15 falls on a Sunday and April 16 is Emancipation Day in the District of Columbia,
this year’s (2012) due date for filing federal tax returns is April 17.
But don’t let those two extra days lull you into complacence. The tax advice you’ve heard in years past still applies:
Don’t ...
Customers aren’t homogeneous, right? Then again, today’s recession-weary consumers do share some
characteristics. Coming out of the past few dismal years, you’re likely to be dealing customers who are
sadder-but-probably-wiser in several distinct ways:
They’re more cautious.
We all want to believe in the tiny green shoots we’re seeing in the economy but at a deeper level, we
also know that our pre-2007 way of life are gone forever. We don’t know ...
As businesses large and small rush to incorporate social media into their marketing strategies, most are still
figuring it out as they go along. Lots of trial and error, lots of tweaking, lots of uncertainty as to what will really work.
While larger companies have the resources to hire experts and try various tactics, small businesses must become
social media “experts” themselves – developing strategy, implementing and monitoring. And along the way, they will ask and answer the ...
For small business owners, the repercussions from what is now being called the Great Recession just seem to
keep on coming. An unexpected piece of economic fallout involves small business owners who
in the past have relied heavily on the value of their homes as a source of capital for their businesses.
While everyone talks about the difficulty small businesses have in getting bank or even SBA loans,
who would have thought that the country’s unbelievable losses in home ...
If you’re running a business, running is undoubtedly the operative word here. Running…non-stop, all day, every day,
in all directions at once. You’re multi-tasking for 12, 14, maybe even 16 hours a day. So the last thing you want to hear
is how you can pack more into each exhausting day, right?
Believe it or not, you can do more. But first you have to wrap your head around a seemingly counterintuitive notion:
To do more, do less. And ...
You don’t need to follow the headlines to know that the economy has been struggling – you can often just feel it. But something you may not know is that conditions have begun to improve, albeit slowly. Sure, analysts have been saying this for a couple years now. After all, the recession technically ended in mid-2009. But recent trends point to a more robust recovery than any previously seen.
What trends?
This week, for example, the National ...
When forming your initial business strategy, it can be tempting to start from the inside and work your way out. That means developing a marketing plan, obtaining a business line of credit, recruiting and hiring the right people and establishing a financial strategy. But how much of those admittedly crucial endeavors have to do with the customer?
Dave Brock, founder of consulting firm Partners in Excellence, argues that the reverse strategy is preferable.
“Too many organizations design ...
