Running a business is like running a marathon. You have the law, the government, and the competition all eagerly expecting you to make a mistake. Unlike in the marathon, any mistake you make cannot be forgiven. That being said, many of the mistakes businesses make are usually due to negligence and ignorance. Notwithstanding the intent behind these mistakes, you can be made to pay a huge price for committing them.

However, nothing can hurt your business as much as running afoul of the law in the process of running your business. Small business owners can pay the hardest for legal mistakes.

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The formula for business success is simple but not easy. At the core, once you have your product or service figured out, your marketing plan should be a natural progression.

In fact, we would challenge the thinking that your business plan and marketing plan are one in the same to a certain extent.

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Marketing a business online can be a bit tricky with cost being a concern to most business owners. Some have to work with a low budget with most opting to find a free way to market their trade online.

There are tons of free tools businesses can turn to when it comes to marketing online. With that in mind, it may all boil down to where to start and which tool is best used first. The tools mentioned range from actual sites to free tools integrated with their marketing plans. Below are some of the tools that companies can consider using.

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Facebook  is to let small businesses in emerging markets sell to customers for free directly through their Facebook pages, the social media company said on Wednesday, marking a new effort to build up potential advertisers in its fastest-growing regions.

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When it comes to rebranding, what can your small business learn from a manufacturing giant like Sharp Electronics? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

After its purchase by Japanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision earlier this year, Sharp went through an extensive rebranding process to focus on its home appliance division.

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What defines a small business owner as successful? You might think the obvious answer is one who grows quickly and expands his or her operations. But a recent report by Emergent Research and Infusionsoft found that becoming a big business doesn't equal success for most small business owners.

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There are so many things you need to know about before opening your own business, and it can get pretty overwhelming at times. You need to take advantage of any resources you can find that will help you to get where you need to be, and operate a successful small business, from information on creating business plans to the actual daily operations. Some resources are very helpful, while some are just a waste of time. To help keep you from wasting your time on the not-so-great resources, here are our 9 favorites.

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When you first start a business, you have your work cut out for you. Not only do you have to figure out if you have a viable product that people will actually pay you for, but you have to also find your customers, manage administrative tasks and deal with your staff, if you have one.

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Small business owners can now compete on an (almost) level playing field with big brands, all through applying the principles and use of content marketing. Regardless of the size of the business, the goal is the same: to use relevant content to attract qualified customers or clients.

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More new businesses fail than succeed, according to the Kauffman Foundation. And U.S. Small Business Administration data shows that it is only a matter of time before at least half of all businesses go under: Nearly two-thirds of businesses with employees survive at least two years, but only about 50 percent survive at least five years.

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A strong social network can become an asset for any business. Social media offers every business the opportunity to strengthen relationships with their target audience, creating loyal customers and even brand advocates. Exploiting this potential is no easy feat, but can be done if the medium is used well.

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Brands are often associated with large businesses. However, a brand can be used effectively by small businesses as well to increase their profitability. Branding a new business is just as important as insuring your business and knowing when to hire an employee. Your business will not be maximizing its profitability if you are not building a strong brand.

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Of all the elements in starting a new business, location is among the most crucial. But it’s more than just finding a good spot. A prospective startup owner may need to look at different cities in order to take advantage of the potential audience, costs and revenue opportunities.

There is plenty of research out there about what the best cities are for small businesses, and different studies will yield different results, based on their metrics.

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Global mobile traffic now represents roughly 60 percent of internet traffic, making mobile apps a must-have for businesses. But consumers today increasingly expect an Amazon-like experience online. Small businesses do not just need to build a mobile app, they need to build a great one.

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1. Contribute to your community.
For Chiodo, offering his time and resources to the community is not a chore so much as it is part of his commitment to doing the right thing.

Last summer, for example, Chiodo and his team installed four new air conditioning units at a local animal shelter where the cooling system was on its last legs. Instead of handing the shelter a hefty bill, Chiodo worked with his distributor to have the equipment donated. He handled the labor for free.

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When small business owners think about getting involved in SEO, they often become intimidated (or frustrated). They see massive corporations and large businesses dominating the search engine world, and it is no secret why they are able to. They have access to tens of thousands of dollars (or more) to spend on online marketing, a highly talented full-time staff to oversee campaign management, and perhaps most importantly, they have been around for years, so they have had time to cement their authority in their respective niches.

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How to Cope with Brexit
For small businesses owners, especially ecommerce merchants already selling (or thinking about selling) to UK consumers, the anxiety lies with unknown costs: what happens when Brexit takes effect? What new regulations or tariffs will be imposed on trade? How will that affect landed costs (taxes + import tariffs + shipping charges) to UK consumers? Will that change a seller's supply chain, and if so, how?

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Small businesses generally face harsher circumstances when it comes to planning and launching a marketing campaign. They have less revenue and capital, which means they’re more limited in the strategies they can pursue. They have fewer resources, which means their teams are smaller and less experienced. And they generally have less data and first-hand experience with which to strategize in the first place.

One of the best marketing strategies for small businesses is content marketing, due to its approachability and affordability, but creating a content marketing strategy can still be an intensive and intimidating process.

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Business Insiders premium research service, expects that there will be more than 24 billion connected devices on Earth by 2020 — approximately four devices for every human being on the planet.

And as the IoT expands, it will have a particularly profound effect on businesses, especially small businesses. Several IoT business opportunities will be created in the coming years as we head into an increasingly connected world.

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Do you own a small business? If so, you are a favorite target of the Internet bad guys. More and more, they are moving away from well-prepared big businesses and stealing from small businesses, who are often unable to cope with even the most basic cyberattacks. Answer the following questions and then think carefully about what the answers mean for you.

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Running a business is complicated, which means there are some factors or tasks that tend to get overlooked. From basic concepts to more involved processes, members of our small business community have plenty of tips for dealing with those sometimes overlooked business tasks. See the full list of tips below.

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One of the most valuable possessions that you have is your reputation -- and it is important to guard it at all costs. Profits can be lost and regained, but rebuilding a damaged reputation -- that is far more difficult.

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A business that makes the decision to be environmentally-conscious will often promote goodwill among potential customers, while making the world a better place for future generations. Many businesses hesitate to adopt green practices because they fear it will hurt their bottom line and negatively impact profits. But many eco-conscious businesses discover that they can actually save money and bring in new customers who specifically patronize companies that actively make an effort to be environmentally friendly. Many customers may even be willing to pay a bit more for a product or service from a company that is green.

Businesses Going Green

As a general rule, true creativity is lauded across the globe. From the iconic Burning Man Festival, which is held annually in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada, to ever-diversifying International Women’s Day, there are recurring events that celebrate the innate abilities and the creative potential that exists within us all.

Conversely, creativity is typically viewed as an inherently disruptive force in the world of business and commerce. After all, the boldness and distracting nature of innovative thinking is often considered to be detrimental to the basic mechanics of business management, while the endless pursuit of productivity often forces entrepreneurs to eschew creativity in favour of something more reliable.

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As Federal Reserve officials gathered to issue their monthly assessment of the world's largest economy, a new study lays bare the extent to which many small firms are pressed for cash.

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If you want to start a small business but you do not have large cash flow, there are still many great opportunities available.

These jobs can be side businesses to start, but they may eventually replace your entire income.

A small business on the side was once a novel idea, but it has become more mainstream with the help of the internet and social media.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that freelancers and self-employed individuals may make up 20% of the workforce by 2020. The Small Business Association estimated in February 2015 that there are about 28,443,856 small businesses in America. Nearly 23 million of those businesses are single worker operations.

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Yahoo has confirmed that it was the target of what may be the largest cyberattack of all time. The breach took place back in 2014 and compromised the data of an unprecedented 500 million users.   - See more at: http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/9435-yahoo-cyberattack.html#sthash.y9TRc8EM.dpuf

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It is common knowledge that targeting customers will result in a higher sales conversion than non-targeted, random traffic that just happens upon your website. In order to effectively target your customers, you need to know who and where they are. Customers come in all shapes and sizes, so how do you discern which customers are the best to target?

The following are tips to identify your best customers...

Tips to Identify Your Customers

You do not have to be an adult to start your own business. In fact, there are many different business opportunities that teens can use to get their entrepreneurial journeys started. Here are 50 business opportunities for teens.

50 Business Ideas for Teens

Small business owners have a problem with thinking big.

Thinking big doesn't mean getting a big head.

Small business owners mistake successful crowdfunding campaigns with success.

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Despite the potential for physical, emotional, and mental stress, you can learn to lead a sustainable and healthy lifestyle as an entrepreneur.

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Why Your Business Needs Virtual Assistants

If you are looking to de-clutter your business life so you can focus on serving your clients and customers, then virtual assistants are the perfect solution. They excel at the everyday tasks that keep your business up and running and can also handle the more complex tasks that you’re ready to hand off to someone else.

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For small and local businesses, it can be hard to stand out against larger nationwide brands. However, content marketing can help your small business attract attention, and for relevant niches in your industry, too.

Content marketing is a marketing approach that involves creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to your prospective audience in the hopes of driving a consumer action, and it has numerous benefits for small businesses. It can give you the opportunity to not only expand your company, but also to build your reputation and establish a place as a trusted leader in the industry.

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When you run a business, it’s important to always keep an eye on the future if you want your business to grow and improve. Members of our small business community understand what it takes to keep businesses moving forward. Here are some of their top tips.

Make Sure Your Small Business is Prepared for the Holidays

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If you have a small business, you know you want to use social media like Facebook and Twitter to increase sales. Kim Garst has made her living telling businesses how they should use social media to their advantage.

The one thing all business owners say to her is that they want to use social media to make money. This is possible Garst says, but you have to first build a brand.

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Millennial business owners depend on social media for brand promotion more than any other medium.

Shocked, right? OK, probably not. But just how much Millennial business owners are using this relatively new media — or how much they don’t use traditional media — may come as a surprise.

New data (PDF) from Magisto shows that 68 percent of Millennial small business owners and entrepreneurs depend on social media channels for developing awareness of their own brands.

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Starting a small business in the United States has never been easier and, in fact, small businesses make up the backbone of the American economy. 9 out of every 10 employees works for one of the 28 million small businesses across the country. Each month, a half million new businesses enter the market, of which about 70% will last at least two years and one-third will last longer than 15 years.

But what does it mean to be a small business?

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If you are like most Americans, you’re probably making up a list of new year’s resolutions: lose weight, exercise more, stop smoking, be nicer to your in-laws. While those resolutions may be long forgotten by February, I have got a list of resolutions you will want to keep to help you succeed in your small business in 2017.

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Donald Trumps election as president has made many small business owners more upbeat about 2017.

Dean Bingham says he is cautiously optimistic because business picked up at his auto repair shop after the election — people who had put off fixing their cars have decided it’s time to get them serviced.

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U.S. small businesses are wrapping up 2016 with stronger sales and improved profitability.

Businesses with less than $10 million in annual revenues have experienced, on average, 7.3 percent annual sales growth during 2016, according to a financial statement analysis by Sageworks, a financial information company. That represents the fifth consecutive year that sales have grown more than 7 percent.

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The founder of a multiracial beauty company shares how she coped after her “personal and professional victory” angered many fans.

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Christmas has come and gone, but anybody struggling to keep a small business afloat or pondering an entrepreneurial venture might be digging under the desiccated blue spruce (take it out, already) for a missed present or two. The good news is that, as tough as politicians make it to launch your own firm, they've recently gifted us with a bit of relief from their depredations—and more may be on the way.

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To make lives easier, Moore offers the following legal tips to help small and medium-sized business owners.

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How Can Small Business Owners Build their Online Presence Using Pinterest?

Pinterest is not just an image sharing site. Small businesses can take advantage of the platform to market their goods and services to over 100 million online visitors. Here is how.

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As a small business, you are uniquely positioned to be able to compete for above average margins, and this should be your focus.

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A New Year has arrived, along with some big security challenges.

In 2017 the expected proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT) devices across all types of environments will make it tough to ignore the security ramifications. The continued popularity of the cloud will continue to attract the attention of cyberattackers and ransomware authors will keep the IT security industry on its toes.

Here are some of the small business security trends to follow going into a brand-new year.

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Visitors seldom leave a small business website with a neutral impression. For most prospects, your small business is an unknown quantity, so their first impression of your company will either make them more comfortable doing business with you or less comfortable. For this reason, you want their first experience with your website to inspire them to contact you—not your competitor.

These are the 10 biggest website problems that can drive potential new business away:

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Asking for that promotion or finally starting your own business is easier with an inspiring read in your back pocket. Plan to pick up one of these books in 2017 to boost your creativity, or learn leadership lessons from the best.

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Interconnectivity is at the core of our digital universe, and with tech advancements, staying on top of trends is critical to career success. With 86 percent of U.S. adults1 18-29 owning a smartphone, most students, recent grads and longtime employees are seasoned in adopting new technologies.

Preparing for the future of automation and digital security can help jobseekers adapt to the future of tech. As you consider your career goals in todays digital world, there are four things to ask yourself.

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Are you starting a business for the first time? It can be challenging to step out of your comfort zone and go head to head with competitors, manage customer orders and deliver a desirable product. Putting in the right amount of market research goes without saying. But how do you increase your chances of success when starting a business? Check out these 6 ways here.

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