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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When it comes to buying and selling, small business owners are pretty good at that – every company is founded, and has been built to do those things. But operating a small business in the 21st century has become more complicated than ever before, which is why people who know small business know the best way to find out what is really going on is to ask the owner what keeps them up at night.

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Small business owners might assume that their small size makes them immune to cyber threats. Cyber criminals, in other words, only go after the big, flashy opportunities, like the major cyber attack on Target in 2013, which compromised roughly 40 million credit and debit card accounts.

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Joe Spencer has seen plenty of booms and busts in his hometown of Detroit over the years running his small business, Louisiana Creole Gumbo since 1983. He watched as the auto industry imploded and housing collapsed, and he grit his teeth through the subsequent recession.

But these days, things are looking up for his resilient restaurant, famous for its gumbo served five ways. It hit $1.2 million in sales last year, leading him to open a second location.

Now one thing is on his mind: How Donald Trump stands to impact the economy, and what might that mean for endeavors like his around the country.

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These Deductions Can Really Help Your Bottom Line
When you deliver your files, receipts and spreadsheets this year, make sure to schedule some time with your accountant to discuss tax deductions that could save your business vitally important revenue. You may be aware of many of them already, but here’s a refresher course just in case.

For example, you probably know that while your salary is a non-deductible draw in many cases, you can deduct the salaries and wages you pay your employees. And speaking of wages, you can also deduct the fees you pay to professional service providers such as accountants, lawyers and perhaps even your tax preparer. Yay!

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Optimism among small-business owners has soared as entrepreneurs hope that President-elect Donald Trump will enact policies aimed at helping them.

Trump has promised to ease regulation. While some on Main Street cheer the goal, changing anything substantial about regulation is easier said than done.

But there are other ways that a Trump administration can make life easier for small businesses. Consider this five-step plan his first 100 days agenda for Main Street.

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Being a business owner is a dream of many; but a reality of only a few. Especially when it comes to actually making it in the small business space. It requires persistence, preparation and dedication.

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When it comes to buying and selling, small business owners are pretty good at that – every company is founded, and has been built to do those things. But operating a small business in the 21st century has become more complicated than ever before, which is why people who know small business know the best way to find out what’s really going on is to ask the owner what keeps them up at night.

One organization that knows how to ask small businesses the right questions is the National Federation of Independent Business.

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Everyone told us that the name Worstofall Design would not work. You can not use negativity in your branding, they said.

We decided to go with our gut and ignore the rules.

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Once upon a time, in a land far, far away – in Internet terms that’s about 10 years ago – a small business owner did not have to worry too much about macro-economics. Well, that was a nice trip down Memory Lane.

Today, Main Street business owners have to operate every day in their micro-economy, while keeping an eye on what is happening at the macro level. Alas, macro-economics is not easy to get your head around when your highest priority on Monday morning is to cover payroll on Friday.

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Steven Mnuchin, Trumps candidate to run the Treasury Department, has stated that comprehensive tax reform will be an immediate priority of Trumps administration, and that his focus as Treasury Secretary will be stimulating economic growth and creating jobs through tax reform.

But how will this affect small businesses and their owners?

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How do you stay on top of the latest trends in your field?

I read a lot of blogs. I stay on top of Google Webmaster Central Blog, Search Engine Land and Moz Blog are ones that I read. I network with colleagues in the field to see what they’re doing, what they’re hearing and learn from them. There are a few SEO and social media marketing meet-ups in town that I attend.

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Small businesses are an integral part of our economy. Every business aims to solve a problem and create value in doing so. This is particularly true of small businesses. They provide a service or product that meets local needs and can fulfill requirements for larger businesses.

The benefits of small businesses are numerous, but often they can have difficulty creating, sharing, and establishing their message. Entrepreneurs, startups, and freelancers watch their budgets carefully, and expenses outside of delivering the product are kept to a minimum. That means marketing budgets get shaved first.

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Companies that can figure out how to take advantage of new technologies for digital retail will outsmart and outpace competitors.

Any company of any size -- whether it is one employee working out of her basement or a multi-national company balancing millions in revenue -- must consider how digitization is affecting business as we know it.

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As 2017 unfolds, small businesses should take a look at what did not work in 2016 and find ways to improve in the upcoming year. While you work to control spending and shed some of the holiday pounds, don’t forget about making social media resolutions for your business.

Social media in 2017 will really be a defining factor in successful marketing strategies and strong businesses. In 2016, social media boomed for businesses. It was part of marketing strategies in previous years, but new advertising updates for social platforms and business-friendly changes made it easier than ever for organizations to make connections and offer valuable customer service.

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Atop many business award programs sits privately-held and family-run Wegmans grocery stores, from No. 4 on FORBES list of Americas Best Employers. Based in Rochester, NY, the supermarket has an ardent fan base – including Alec Baldwins mother, who refused to move to California and give up her access to the grocery store – and legions of die-hard shoppers.

And who can blame them? Clean stores, huge inventories, reasonable prices and a seeming dedication to making life easier for its customers, Wegmans offers many lessons small businesses can learn from and apply.

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Here are five things in technology that happened this past week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

1 – A new form of ransomware centers on a fake font update.

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Sometimes budget limits small businesses from executing their marketing ideas, but not every successful strategy requires a lot of money. Here are six outside the box ways to market your small business that are both inexpensive and effective.

1. Get personal.

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The internet is the perfect forum for small businesses to compete with big brands. Audience reach, social sharing and unlimited sales and marketing opportunities have leveled the playing field between big and small companies. Still, a surprising percentage of small businesses have remained on the sidelines. Either they do not have an online marketing strategy, or the one they are using is inadequate, and therefore unsuccessful. So why are some smaller companies not taking full advantage of this potent and indispensable marketing tool?

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Moving into a new city or job can be daunting, the hassle of finding accommodation, the stress of moving personal items and most especially the people or city accepting someone new might not be pleasing.

The same applies to small businesses that are launching into an industry ridden with bigger competitors. For an SMB, finding a niche can be time-consuming but rewarding on the long-term.

In the article below, I will be sharing 4 effective marketing strategies for SMBs against bigger competitors.

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When it comes to retirement and succession planning, a recent Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey suggests that business owners are not necessarily as prepared as they ought to be. Seventy percent of business owners surveyed say they do not have a formal written plan in place outlining what they will do with their business if they decide to retire or can no longer continue working.

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In a technology climate riddled with ransomware and other threats, there’s no room for complacency.

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Sears built its business dominating catalog sales, fulfilling the pre-smartphone on-demand demands of its clientele. This revolution in direct-to-consumer sales created loyal customers, a nationwide network of stores and decades of profit. Times became more challenging for Sears following the rise in popularity of Walmart, which offered similar goods for cheaper prices, and Amazon, which led the charge on ecommerce, and has spent billions of dollars on capitalizing on fast delivery.

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A social media presence is considered a necessity and not a luxury.

Having a presence on social media has become an absolute must for almost all business ventures.

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It is generally assumed that millennials are seeking jobs in coastal cities — New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles.

But new data from Indeed.com shows that millennials looking to work for small businesses are actually narrowing their searches toward inland cities.

Cities Where Millennials Want to Work for Small Businesses
In fact, when identifying metro areas where millennials are most often looking for work at small businesses. Oklahoma City topped the job board’s list, not L.A. or New York.

This is the latest crop of data looking at generational trends among job seekers.

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Digital marketing is a very broad term that includes website design, social media, online advertising, email advertising, SEO and more. This can be extremely confusing to the local business owner simply looking to attract more eyeballs on their site. They are typically too busy running operations to investigate which digital marketing strategies work best for their business.

In an effort to help local business owners such as restauranteurs, dentists, doctors, lawyers and any other service provider, I have put together the digital marketing strategies that all local businesses should adopt in 2017.

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Chances are, your business goes through a fair amount of paper. Even if you have tried to go paperless or cut back on printing hard copies of documents, you likely have some paper products that need to be disposed of.

But instead of just throwing away all of that paper, your business can recycle it. Recycling paper comes with many potential benefits and is relatively easy. Here are some tips for recycling paper in your small business.

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Google reports that 60% of small businesses globally don't have a website yet.

However, a business exit strategy not only means having a plan for the unexpected - including financial hardship, injury, disability and even death - it also means having a plan for the succession or transfer of ownership of your business when it comes time to hang up your hat and retire.

How to plan an exit strategy for your small business

The try-out period for social media is long past. Even tiny businesses – even many who don’t even have their own websites – know they need to be on social.

10 Classic Small Business Social Media Mistakes

In other words, small business optimism is mostly a false front, not anything real about how he is expected to affect the economy. There was sort of a pent-up demand to rebound from the unwarranted fall in optimism during 2015, and when you combine that with a lot of support for Trump, you get a spike in reported optimism.

Why Are Small Business Owners So Happy?

Here is a fact: fake news is everywhere.  There is not a reputable news source out there distributing information with an objective, unbiased voice. It just does not exist anymore.

Where are the Cronkites, the Huntleys, the Brinkleys? In this frayed political climate, fake news seems to be at the very top of every discussion; it’s almost inescapable

Fake News Hurts Small Business

Your small business is up and running, and you have a product or service that you are excited about. How do you boost your chances of building a venture that will last for the long term? A government statistic shows roughly 40% of Australian businesses fail within the first four years.

Three Key Success Metrics Every Small Business Owner Should Focus On

Amazon can truly be called a retail innovator, and since its inception as an online bookseller in the 1990s, it has forever changed the way consumers shop for products. Amazons reach is staggering -- nearly 50% of internet users in the US live in a household with a Prime membership and amazon.com receives more than 2 billion visitors every single month.

A Small Business Guide To Selling On Amazon: Be Ready To Compete On Price

Businesses are incredibly difficult ventures to start. More than half of all businesses fail within five years of starting, according to statistics gathered in 2016. While this is far better than the traditional belief that half fail within a single year of starting, it is still clearly a challenge to start and continue running a small business.

6 Things Your Small Business Needs to Spend More Money On

It is common knowledge around the Friedman household that when Emily was born, if she had been a boy instead of a girl, her name would have been Ted. Katie was also going to be named Ted and so was Jenni. When a boy was born to us in 1994, just a few short weeks after we moved to Ankeny, to no one’s surprise, we named him Ted.

Small Business Today: What Is in a name?

Have you procrastinated about setting up a tax-advantaged retirement plan for your small business? If the answer is yes, you are not alone. Even so, this is not a good situation. You are paying extra income taxes every year that you could easily avoid. However, you still have time to set things right and line yourself up for major tax savings for this year and beyond. This column explains the basics about your tax-smart retirement plan options.

When you cut through all the technical details, you’ll discover that tax-advantaged retirement plans come in two basic varieties:

Defined-contribution plans, which come in several different flavors.
Defined benefit pension plans.

How to choose a retirement plan for your small business

After five straight months of declining or flat readings in small business optimism, Julys update from the NFIB showed a big turnaround. With economists expecting the headline index to come in at a level of 103.5, the actual reading came in at 105.2. This puts the index back within a point of its cycle high and indicates that despite a lack of progress in DC, small business owners are seeing improved conditions on the ground.

Small Business Confidence Bounces Back

By 2020, there will be more than 24 billion connected devices. This wave of connections is already impacting the way we live and work. Of course, for small-business owners, life and work are usually intertwined: Running a business is a 24/7 job.

Thankfully, the internet of things (IoT) can actually help small-business owners streamline their processes and work more efficiently. Think of those 24 billion devices and services as an opportunity to work smarter, not harder!

How Small-Business Owners Should Be Using IoT

U.S. small businesses added more workers in July and plan to ramp up hiring in coming months. That is according to the National Federation of Independent Business monthly employment survey, due out later today.

Small Business Hiring Rises