Big companies often have big perks. That is especially true in the technology Opens a New Window.  space, where free meals, gyms, and even day care are quite common. Even more traditional large companies that do not offer those kinds of benefits still have things that smaller businesses Opens a New Window. do not -- there are more opportunities for advancement, more training opportunities, and maybe even the option of transferring to another location.

complete article

Whether you are an entrepreneur plotting to launch a startup or a CEO strategizing where to put another office, knowing where the next hot city is would be a game changer. Should you expand to Raleigh? Would you attract better talent in Austin or Atlanta? With the new Surge Cities Index, Inc. and innovation policy company Startup Genome crunched the data to score and rank the top 50 metro areas in the U.S. on seven key indicators--from early-stage funding metrics to job creation. Finally, here’s the smartest way to answer the age-old question: Where should you go next?

complete article

Small businesses can be more vulnerable to cyberattacks than larger companies because they often do not have sophisticated and comprehensive systems to protect themselves from hackers, viruses, malware and whats called ransomware. And owners who are focused on customers and employees may not ensure that their defenses are up to date.

But there are things small businesses can do to improve cybersecurity.

complete article

SBDC Centers offer free consulting and free or low-cost training. (Find yours here.) Their results speak for themselves: SBDC clients grow sales by an average 18.1%, which is 4.3 times the national average. March 20th is SBDC Day, and to celebrate, we assembled some tips from their experts.

complete article

Smart companies are not just those that have intelligent leaders. They also have systems, tools and proper planning in place that allow every department or function to run together seamlessly. To become a smart company, you need to integrate smart ideas into every facet of your business. Here are some tips from members of the online small business community.

Manage Your Website Effectively
Your website is one of the most important tools your small business has. To manage it effectively, you need access to the right tools. In this WP Buffs post, Brenda Barron provides a full explanation and walk-through of GoDaddy Pro, so you can see if it may be helpful for your business.

complete article

A Small Business can be identified as a being a privately-owned corporation, partnership, or sole proprietor that have fewer staff and less annual revenue than a regular-sized corporation. The European Union (EU) defines a small business as one with under 50 employees.

Small business or as they are sometimes known, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) contribute 47% of revenue to the U.K. economy. They have a key role in boosting productivity but need support to expand activities and increase their economic impact.

complete article

Owning and operating a small business is challenging in today’s market. And common issues that small business leaders often must handle on their own are the countless HR tasks and responsibilities that take a significant amount of time and energy to properly manage.

The frustration and stress involved with modern HR has resulted in an increase in the use of outsourcing solutions. But one in particular can prove to be valuable to small employers: professional employer organizations (PEO).

complete article

As a (new) small business owner myself, I am very much talking from experience with these stay sane tips. You will find that you can never prevent work from piling up but you can lay down some strategies that will help you manage the work.

You need to consider your own state of mind and do what is best for you. Whatever your goal is in a business, your dream will eventually turn into an illusion when you become overwhelmed. There are a few secrets to staying sane by breaking up stress. Here are a few tips to get you started.

complete article

Owners of small businesses should consider hiring their children.

A young person whos claimed as a dependent on their parents return can still have $12,000 of wages in 2019 and pay no income tax. The Standard Deduction offsets the wages.

The parents probably provided more than 50 percent of the basic support of the child (housing, food, clothing, medical and transportation expenses). The parents can still claim the exemption for the child, but dependent exemptions are no longer done (allowed). If the child is younger than age 17, the parents do get a Child Tax Credit of $2,000. That credit directly offsets income tax of the parents.

If the business is a sole owner business, a single member LLC or a partnership owned only by the childs parents, there are no payroll taxes for the child or the employer to pay on the wages.

complete article

As any entrepreneur will tell you, owning a business comes with a lot of demands, pressure and hard work, but it can also be extremely rewarding. Thanks to an impactful conversation with an old friend and fellow business owner several years ago, I realized that I was wasting a lot of money by just having one credit card to pay business expenses.

Multiple credit cards can provide big bonuses.

Credit card companies are fighting a turf war, and they all have enticing offers to get us to sign up with them. My rationale is, why be exclusive to one bank? Why choose only one credit card? Why not enjoy the benefits from multiple banks?

complete article

Spreadsheets have long been an important tool for businesses. You can use them for just about anything. This includes budgeting and planning out important marketing campaigns.

No tool seems more synonymous with spreadsheets than Excel. Microsofts tool allows you to easily fill in spaces and create tables. But it also takes advantage of some more advanced features. However, starting from scratch will not give you a productive business.

You may want to take advantage of all that Excel has to offer. But maybe you don’t know exactly how to get started. So templates become a great option. Check out some sources for Excel business templates that can help you in 15 different areas of business operations.

complete article

Ranking a business website higher enhances its chances of gaining a lead that could ultimately turn into a new business sale. To rank, a website higher needs quite a few steps and does not happen overnight. Let’s figure out the five most common and impactful professional SEO tips that a CEO insists upon.

complete article

It is hard to start a profitable business in a competitive landscape. No doubt, business starts with a primary goal of making profits. Getting these profits from the phase of no client to multiple clients is a period of learning, falling, getting through and finally managing to sustain.

complete article

Cybersecurity remains one of the most challenging issues for small business owners. And the problem leads small business owners to seek out managed service providers to present them with solutions.

But a new report from Continuum says the state of cybersecurity among small businesses in 2019 still needs to improve. The data suggests great opportunities for service providers who offer cyber security as part of their package.

complete article

People have a lot of opinions when it comes to debt and borrowing. At one extreme, some believe that all debt should be avoided and there’s no room for argument on the subject. Others perhaps borrow a little too freely, taking out new financing with little thought about whether doing so will be a benefit or a hindrance in the long term.

complete article

A new report finds that a good number of small businesses (29%) are spending somewhere in the sweet spot of  ($750-$2499) monthly to get the data needed for good online advertising results.

WordStreams Online Advertising Landscape in 2019 report also found that only 10% of the respondents had a monthly advertising budget less than the low end plateau for effectiveness of $750 monthly.

complete article

Chatbots are all the business buzz – and for good reason.

They give customers of any-size business critical answers to pressing questions quickly.

They can:

Boost your average order value.
Accelerate the buyers’ journey.
Reduce your customer service costs.

complete article

As your small business grows, it will eventually become too big to run out of your home. With steady clients coming in or an expanding workforce of people you have hired, you probably don't want to keep conducting business in your basement or at your kitchen table.

complete article

Grow or die.

It sounds like the title of a rap song, but its actually the business idea that if your company does not grow, it is probably not going to make it. The reality is that you don't need to get bigger. What you need is a stream of customers to replace the ones that move, buy from you a little less, or have other life circumstances that change the level of business they do with you.

Yes, it is nice to add business and grow.

complete article

I started my first business out of my university dorm room, and like most startup business owners, I had to be resourceful and use whatever tools I could afford. Thus, I taught myself how to use Photoshop and I designed my own business cards, my own logo and all of my own marketing materials — and they looked bad. Unfortunately, friends, family and everyone who I marketed my startup entertainment business to knew that my branding materials looked bad — except for me.

complete article

Most small business owners today know that they need a website. But what many fail to realize is that their websites need to be more effective.

A website is meant to attract consumers to your business. But what do those consumers do once they land on your website? Maybe they give you a call or pop into your bricks-and-mortar location some time. And, sure, that’s all fine and dandy. But even better than that, your website itself can actually generate leads and sales for you with just a few simple tweaks.

complete article

Being a small business owner puts you in control of your destiny, but there are major costs that go along with being the boss. With licences, office rent, and staff payroll to deal with already, some aspiring entrepreneurs shrug off the idea of purchasing business insurance in the start-up phase.

complete article

Whether you are a freelance photographer, own a hardware store, or have another type of small business, a great website is essential for your companys success. As a webmaster who has worked on building or marketing over 100 small business websites, I know what it takes to create great and engaging business websites.

If you are looking to build a new startup website or make your current site more effective, here are 10 key steps to getting started and helping your small business website compete effectively in the online marketplace.

complete article

Many people dream of owning a small business. Owning a company is ideal for people who are naturally creative, are visionaries, and want freedom from the daily toil of a corporate job. However, launching a small business is not solely about having enough capital or a great idea. A would-be entrepreneur should also have the courage to take risks, a great imagination to be innovative, and the self-discipline to sustain the work needed to attain set goals. Here are some important considerations to think about before launching a small business.

complete article

About one third of small business owners still do not have a website. Some might not want to invest in the cost. Others might think they can get by with just a Facebook page or Google My Business Profile. And a few may even feel like a website is not relevant for their business if they do not sell anything online.

But a website can benefit nearly any small business. Even if you do not sell products or services online, it can help to direct people to your location, get your business in front of more potential customers through search and provide some credibility for your brand.

complete article

Every year, more than 400,000 entrepreneurs launch small businesses in the United States, many driven by the desire for ownership and independence. Local mom-and-pop shops, online services, food trucks — the skys the limit.

But taking on a new business is a lot of work and risk. According to the Small Business Association, over 20% of new small businesses fail during the first year of operation.

complete article

Many small business owners show skill earning money. But still fall short when it comes to managing it. Sure, they may have built a successful company. But too many still live paycheck to paycheck.

complete article

There are dozens of small things to keep in mind before calling yourself an entrepreneur: Have you found a good accountant? What's your niche? Who are you bringing onto your project?

complete article

Statistics show that cybersecurity is a legitimate threat to small businesses, but small businesses don't always act on that knowledge. According to the 2018 Small Business Cybersecurity Report, 47% of small businesses experienced an attack in the past 12 months. Cybersecurity is a serious concern, yet the report shows only 52% of businesses have a cybersecurity strategy.

complete article

Running a business is often about setting goals and putting in the long hours and hard work to achieve them. Regardless of what type of business you run, it’s likely that selling more has a frequent, if not long-term, place on your to-do list. It’s a goal that requires staying up to date on new techniques, honing strategies, and being in touch with the latest industry news.

complete article

Diction or word choice is important when it comes to drafting your resume, not just to ensure that your resume is reviewed positively by software, but also because you want to wow recruiters with your skills, competencies and relevant credentials.

complete article

Secure-computing engineers generally view these schemes as sound in theory and productive to deploy. But in practice, it can be dangerous to rely on a sole element to act as the check on the whole system. Undermining that safeguard—which has proven possible in many companies implementations—strips a device of critical protections. Worse still, manipulating the enclave can make it appear that everything is fine, even when it's very much not.

complete article

Small-business owners were victims in 43 percent of data breaches tracked between Nov. 1, 2017, and Oct. 31, 2018, according to a 2019 Verizon report. The report tracked security incidents across all industries, but the most vulnerable sectors this year were retail, accommodation and healthcare.

What does the issue look like on a national scale? If we take the sample size of infected sites SiteLock said they found in 2018 -- approximately 47,244 out of 6,056,969 checked -- and apply that percentage to the country’s estimated 30.2 million small-businesses websites, minus the estimated 36 percent that do not have one, then we can loosely estimate the amount of infected small-business websites to be around 150,757.

complete article

Micro influencers are social media personalities with anywhere from 2,000-50,000 followers. The numbers vary depending on the source, but their importance is universal. They are a great cost efficient way to provide targeted advertising for small businesses with limited budgets

Here is what you need to know about how these people can benefit your small business.

complete article

Running a small business may not seem too challenging from a distance. After all, it is a small business, so how much operational and management work could there be? But since I started my own agency, I’ve realized that running a small business or firm is not as easy as it looks.

The good news is that there are plenty of best practices small businesses can follow to save time and manage their tasks more efficiently with the help of automation.

complete article

When running a small business, there are a lot of things to focus on. Making sales, finding new customers and motivating your employees are among them; however, keeping your business secure from cyberattacks might take precedent over of all of them.

complete article

Your 6-Step Guide to Successful Project Management

1. Define your goal and get buy-in from all project team members.

As you do this, you will want to determine each team member’s role and responsibilities. In this step, also consider how the project will affect your company and how you’ll measure the projects impact.

2. Determine the project deliverables.

What key tasks do team members need to accomplish to move the project along the path to completion? You will also need to identify which deliverables depend on other deliverables, so you can establish a timeline that puts tasks in a logical order.

complete article

If you want to ensure new customers are able to find your business, then you need to know how to optimize your business for voice search, which is becoming one of the most popular ways of searching.

Voice search is not quite taking over the search world yet—but it is getting closer. Last year, more than half (58%) of consumers used voice search to find local business information, according to BrightLocal’s Voice Search for Local Business Study 2018. Almost half (46%) of voice search users searched for a local business daily; 28% used voice search to search for a local business about once a week.

complete article

If you own or are employed by a small business—and are among the approximately 38 million people in the U.S. with no access to a retirement plan at work—you may be interested in a new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule set to take effect Sept. 30, 2019.

complete article

If time is the only resource that we cannot acquire, then spending your days trying to run a business you no longer love -- or that does not serve your needs -- is one of the biggest ways to squander our lives. With that in mind, here are the seven signals and truths that indicate it might be time for you to find something else to do with your precious life span:

1. Your dreams have stopped.
Remember back when you were so excited about your business? You went to bed thinking about it. Brainstorms popped into your head at the dinner table. You told everyone who would hold still to listen. Maybe you dreamed you would take over or revolutionize your industry or imagined the lifestyle this little baby company of yours would grow up to afford you. If now it is  just about making it through the day -- or even more stressful, making it through payroll -- it could be time to consider doing something else.

complete article

Effective Aug. 19, the Small Business Administration (SBA) is raising its monetary-based small business size standards for inflation by an average of 8.4%, an adjustment that the administration expects will allow 90,000 additional companies to participate in its loan and contracting programs. The SBA said that this increase could result in $750 million more total contracts awarded to small businesses and as much as $65 million more in small business loans.

In order to be considered a small business under current SBA guidelines, most general, heavy and civil construction companies cannot have more than $36.5 million of average annual sales receipts.

complete article

Time is said to be spent or invested. But without time management, it can also be squandered.

Is your to-do list constantly growing? Do you feel like there are not enough hours in the day to meet your family, work and social obligations?

For a business leader, time management is especially problematic given their magnitude of responsibilities and limited hours in the day. Lost time is not only never found again, but not managing it strategically harms the executive's well-being, effectiveness and organizational performance.

My team and I had the opportunity to lead coaching sessions for executives of public and private companies worth billions. And one thing is clear-- how you manage your time leads to success or failure.

complete article

Several customers owe you money, but you have no idea when those payments will arrive. Meanwhile, your vendors and contractors are contacting you daily to pay your own invoices. For small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs), this is an all-too-common cash-flow conundrum.

A recent Kabbage survey of 500 successful entrepreneurs showed cash-flow issues are front of mind for SMB owners. Of the respondents surveyed, 63 percent said they are regularly stressed or have anxiety due to cash-flow concerns. Yet, respondents have run successful companies for an average of 10.5 years.

complete article

One thing brands should never do.

But it leads to something no brand should ever do: You should never assume that your customers feel the same way about your brand that you do. Your brand is how other people feel about your company, not how you feel about it.

complete article

Online security was a big topic in the past week.

Of course, news broke mid-week about the big Capital One data breach. And we talked about how you can deal with that as a small business owner and entrepreneur. There’s a good chance your data was compromised in the attack in some way so be sure to do a little digging to find out how you should respond but not overreact.

And that brings us to another bit of news we learned this week, and that’s how small business owners feel about their own cyber security.

In the 2019 SMB Cyberthreat Study from Keeper Security, we learned that nearly 2/3 of small business owners do not feel threatened by a cyber attack. However, that same survey found that 2/3 of small business owners have been victims of a cyber attack in some way.

complete article

Since its inception in 1994, Amazon.com has grown from a small online bookseller to an online retail juggernaut. In the second quarter of 2019, Amazon facilitated $63.4 billion in sales of everything from telescopes to toothpaste. It’s a ubiquitous part of the American business landscape, and that can either work for or against a small business owner.

complete article

Web accessibility may not be the first thing you think of when designing a website for your small business, but in the long run, few things could prove more important. Just like how a brick-and-mortar store must comply with ADA guidelines to ensure that all individuals can access their facilities regardless of whether they have a disability, business owners, as well as web design and digital agencies, must also ensure that those with disabilities have equal access to web content. Failure to make web accessibility a priority when designing your website could have significant long-term consequences.

complete article

High-profile entrepreneurs like Stitch Fixs Katrina Lake and The Riveter's Amy Stern Nelson are using Stories to answer questions about everything from managing cash flow to storing breast milk during business trips.

complete article

Running a small business or being self-employed can offer flexibility, freedom and control over your earning potential. While the perks are plentiful, there’s one thing thats usually missing when you own a small business: an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

Self-employed people do not have 401(k)s, and small business owners tend not offer them, citing the time and cost to set up and administer them. The good news is there are several other retirement plan options available to small business owners. If you have yet to begin saving for retirement as an entrepreneur, here is how you can change that.

Small Business Retirement Plan Basics

complete article

To say the United States has many small businesses would be an understatement — according to JP Morgan Chase & Co., more than 99% of Americas businesses are included in this category. Collectively, they contribute $5.9 trillion dollars to the economy every year.

complete article