Following the most wonderful time of the year is a season that strikes fear in the hearts of many small business owners: tax time.

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One of the most popular case studies used to decry the rise of the corporation is the apparent downfall of local bookstores. With Borders now just a fond memory and Barnes & Noble living on borrowed time, it’s clearer than ever that Americans have spoken and Amazon has won—or has it?

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The more things change…the harder it becomes to do your small business taxes. Between the Affordable Care Act coming into full effect, on-again off-again on-again tax credits gurgling out of Washington, and even a shakeup of the venerable TurboTax product line, this year—more than ever—small business owners need guidance and support as April 15 approaches.

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Like professional marketers, successful small business owners target their social media activities for maximum impact. While their competitors are adrift in a sea of tweets and blog posts, savvy strategists focus and fine tune their social-media plays. Consider three social media campaigns that generated big results through careful targeting:

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As a small-business owner, you are always on the lookout for ways to boost cash flow. Although increasing sales is one way to make that happen, cutting costs can be a faster way to increase cash. Here are seven of the most effective ways to reduce expenses without compromising quality.

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Online electronics store Adafruit began accepting bitcoin as a payment method in November 2013. Just over a week later, sales surged.

The DIY electronics merchant raked in tens of thousands of dollars that month alone, boosted by the annual shopping surge known as Bitcoin Black Friday. While sales have been up and down since, site founder Limor Fried says that, as a small business owner, she loves the cryptocurrency despite its potential pitfalls.

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Between working all the time and being high energy in all circumstances, establishing a small business is more exhausting than ever. Here is how one entrepreneur does it.

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Whether you decide to outsource your tax tasks or perform them in-house it is important to arm yourself with the relevant knowledge to make sure your business not only complies but also saves time and money wherever possible. Here are a few resources to get you started:

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For many independent business owners, embarking on a full-blown social media program can seem like a daunting journey into unknown territory. Thankfully, the payoff is worth the effort. When done right, there is massive potential for SMBs to directly connect and communicate with targeted, local audiences.

In fact, recent research has shown that 91% of small business owners rely on social media as a means of driving increased sales. So what is the secret? Where do you start, and what are some of the most important things to keep in mind as you look to boost your bottom line?

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A media interview provides a great opportunity to generate buzz surrounding your small business. Knowing how to give a great media interview – and get the most out of it for your brand – is key to helping your business build deeper long-term relationships with new and existing customers.

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When a good business plan pays off at home, it’s natural to want to take the show on the road. Introducing your small business to an international market has the potential to pay off in a big way, especially when it opens the door for your company to expand and grow like never before, not to mention the opportunity for higher sales in a new market.

Of course, new territory means new challenges. Most people do their homework before they visit a country, so you can imagine how much research is involved when deciding to take a company global. Are you prepared?

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For those just beginning, knowing what steps to take first can be hard to figure out. It can be even harder to tell which steps you should not take.

While a business might be a complex thing to fathom sometimes, Dr. Rebecca Reuber, professor of strategic management at the University of Toronto, believes that all of them need to share a simple start: An idea you believe in.

Once you get that, though, it gets more complicated.

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Being an entrepreneur is synonymous with being financially unstable at times. While you are growing your company, it is important to be focused. But what if you could get a side hustle that would help bring in a healthy secondary income to alleviate some of that financial stress? And, best case, what if this side hustle could also help you grow your core business?

The good news is that there are a lot of companies that create opportunities for entrepreneurs that do not require full-time work and can become a great companion to the work you are doing.

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Are franchises small, independent businesses or should they be considered part of a much larger company?

The question is at the heart of two upcoming legal cases. The outcomes could affect profits and change how franchisees hire, fire, manage and pay workers.

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Small-business owners in the US are feeling pretty positive, as 72% polled in January 2015 by the National Small Business Association - NSBA said they were somewhat or very confident in the financial future of their companies. They intended to turn to advertising and marketing 51%, digital and ecommerce expansion 34% and strategic alliances 31% the most to fuel growth over the coming year.

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This is a checklist for small business owners who do not have a business degree. Other business professionals might fall out of their seat reading this because it might imply that starting a business is as simple as a checklist. This list merely skims the surface of a bottomless ocean.

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The future can look bleak when starting a small business. According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics, six out of ten businesses starting in the U.K. today will not make it to 2020. In the United States things are only marginally better with Small Business Administration research showing two-thirds of new businesses close their doors within the first two years and only about half survive the first five years. This may sound like a depressing number for a small business owner, but you can avoid becoming just another statistic by being aware of the most common small business challenges—and how to handle them.

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85% of small businesses get customers through word of mouth. Here are steps you should do to generate word of mouth from customers.

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By far the most common way customers learn about a business is from word of mouth, according to the small businesses in the survey.  Eighty-five percent of the small businesses surveyed said customers learn about them through word of mouth.  The chart above shows all the responses.  As you can see, no other type of marketing or advertising even comes close.  Search engines come in a distant second at 59%.  Everything else is far behind.

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I think many of the tools on this list have the potential to become invaluable assets for both small businesses, and individuals alike. Jump over to the bottom of the post to see these tools in action as I have gathered up a slideshow to give you a better idea of what to expect.

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Having a clear vision of your expected customer base will increase your business chances of success. Clearly defining your target audience — whether it is senior citizens, busy moms or millennials in California — can help answer a lot of questions and overcome obstacles that may be plaguing you as you kick-start your online store. Some of the business questions you will be addressing include:

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A corporation is a business structure that is owned entirely by the shareholders. Shareholders are individuals, companies or other institutions that own at least one share of the corporations stock. One of the major benefits to the corporation business structure is that the business itself and not the shareholders are held legally responsible for any actions and the debts incurred by the business.

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Last years efforts to woo small businesses should pay off in a big way for the social media king this year.

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Todays business environment is moving at a faster pace than ever before. It’s imperative that organizations of all sizes be nimble enough to respond and pivot according to business and market demands at a moment’s notice, or risk falling behind their competition.

To this point, many small businesses often struggle when it comes to effectively scaling their operations. This process entails making hefty IT investments, and while necessary for continued growth, many entrepreneurs just can not afford to do so.

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Website, social media, blog. If you are a small business owner, chances are you've already checked off those must have boxes. If you have not, get those launched and then circle back to continue reading.

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Filing for bankruptcy protection to save a small business often costs at least $100,000 to $300,000—and sometimes twice as much in cases where creditors are contentious, lawyers say.

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The tech giant today announced a major new small business initiative called Let’s Put Our Cities on the Map. The aim is to help every business in every city in America get discovered across its services.

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For large brands with big marketing and advertising budgets, one or even several hundred dollars is just a drop in the monthly marketing budget. But for entrepreneurs and small business owners, every dollar counts – and investments need to pay off in real and immediate marketing ROI.

But could a marketing strategy be executed with as little as $100?

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Conflict is when two or more individuals have opinions, morals or perspectives that do not concur. By being ready for conflict and seeing it as a positive movement toward reaching goals, conflict can be seen as progress or change for the better. The most difficult situation with conflict is the emotions that get in the way. By getting past the emotions of the conflict, real progress can be made and conflict resolution can begin. There are five steps for conflict resolution: collecting data, identifying the issue, approaching the other person, defining the problem together and brainstorming possible solutions.

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Most reporters write on a different topic every day. Unless they are a beat reporter covering your industry, the reporter does not know more than you. If you have been in the business five or 10 years, be confident in your knowledge of industry trends and current events.

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Owning your own business is often touted as the ultimate coup in the working world. You set your own hours, pursue projects you are interested in, and maybe work in your pajamas. Obvious challenges aside, it sounds like a pretty nice gig. Such jobs are largely enjoyed by men, who make up an estimated 71 percent of business owners in the U.S. But that might slowly be changing.

A report from the Institute of Womens Policy Research shows that women are steadily increasing their presence in the world of small-business ownership. About 29 percent of Americas business owners are women, that is up from 26 percent in 1997. The number of women-owned firms has grown 68 percent since 2007, compared with 47 percent for all businesses.

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At one time or another, virtually everyone thinks about starting a business. The allure of being your own boss can be strong, but it is important to remember that launching a new business is risky: According to a recent SBA report, [about 50% of all small businesses will fail within just five years.

Managing a startup can be a minefield, especially when the pull of entrepreneurship clouds your decision-making – and when you go it alone with no business experience.

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Not heeding these warnings can lead to costly mistakes, such as litigation and employee turnover.

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Despite the warning, a number of extremely well known brands are still scrabbling to minimise the impact of Google’s mobile algorithm update, leaving smaller businesses with the advantage as long as they do not panic according to leading UK and US Search experts.

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If you are thinking about starting a new business in one of the states in the US, then this list of 10 best states for business taxes could be very useful to you.

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Every business owner should be forecasting sales. You may use actual numbers if you have historical financial records. But what do you do if you have nothing to refer back to? You will need to determine how many potential customers are there and how many of these potential customers are likely to buy from you, decide the average sale per customer, and then project this out for the year.

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What do you want to achieve in 2015 for your small business? The beginning of January is the time for New Year's resolutions, so here are my top 10 resolutions for small business owners and entrepreneurs.

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By 2020, most small businesses in the U.S. will be powered by the cloud, according to Intuit. Is your business ready?

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Why you should you blog?

Through posting simple things such as helpful tips, special discounts or the latest industry news you can effectively maintain your customer relationships and give people a reason to visit to your website.

More recently blogging and content marketing has been widely used to enhance SEO strategy. Writing articles around the keywords that you are targeting will help to improve rankings in search engines. Furthermore, if you write unique and valuable articles, other websites will link to your content and as a result; this will increase your website's back-links.

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A report commissioned by eBay finds that more than 190,000—or 90 percent—of its small and medium-sized businesses used its platform to export in 2014. (Tweet This) To compare, in 2009, fewer than 30,000 were exporting. The findings come from eBay's Public Policy Lab in its 2015 U.S. Small Business Growth Report.

Despite that growth, less than 5 percent of U.S. small businesses overall are exporting, according to estimates from the International Trade Administration.

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Entrepreneurs are born idea people, with a seemingly endless supply of light bulbs flashing over their heads. But it takes more than good ideas to find your market niche and to build a successful business. It is even harder to do if you are not familiar with the market thats drawn your interest.

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Established businesses have one obvious advantage over their younger counterparts: Deep pockets.

Fortunately, what todays small business lacks in budget can be made up for with strategy and a few carefully chosen tools. Here are six smart marketing ideas gleaned from my experience running a company that teaches small firms how to compete with big ones.

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Walk around any town in Indiana and you can see it: Small businesses are the lifeblood of our state and the engine of our economy. And yet, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is set to implement a rule that would harm Hoosier small businesses.

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From making a financial plan to creating an exit strategy, here are some helpful tips for establishing and running your small business.

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Innovation is usually used to describe ways of adding value to things that already exist. Invention is the creation of something that never existed before. And then there is creativity.

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What is a Domain Name Strategy?
The purpose of a domain name strategy is to proactively protect your brand online by reducing the chance for others to use your brand name in their online activities, specifically, in their website URLs.

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Women playing a bigger role in small businesses is no longer big news, of course. In 2014, there were roughly 9 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., employing nearly 8 million workers and recording nearly $1.4 trillion in sales that year, according to data from the National Association of Women Business Owners.

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Last month, Forbes reported on the best cities for starting a business this year, and much attention is frequently given to the locations working the hardest to attract founders who will create coveted jobs. But which cities are the most hospitable to those who hold those positions?

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Starting a small business is tough, but growing one — or just keeping it afloat — is even harder.

Even though more than 500,000 small businesses are created each year in the U.S., only half of them survive past their fifth year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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Big  Data seems to be the phrase on everybody’s lips these days, and without a doubt, it has revolutionized the business world. Companies are getting valuable insights reading into mountains of data collected from all kinds of sources. Using Big Data simply makes sense, but the very prospect can be intimidating, particularly when it comes to small businesses and startups. One recent survey shows that 35 percent of startups are not even considering the possibility of leveraging Big Data or taking into account how much data is being generated every year – such a decision could be disastrous for the future success of a company.

Small businesses may feel that the ability to leverage Big Data is simply outside of their grasp, but Big Data solutions have become much more affordable in recent years. In addition, they are easier to use and oftentimes automated. In other words, small businesses have every reason to get into the Big Data game now as long as they know how best to use it. Here are just a few ways small companies can truly make Big Data work toward further success.

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