As a small business owner, starting a small business emergency fund can mean the difference between success and failure. Staying on top of your finances can be even more important in times of crisis. Many businesses have a lot of operating expenses as well as debt. That means they don’t have much resiliency. While these...

If you’re facing a long term business slowdown do to a crisis, you may have more time on your hands or limited business hours. That’s true for many companies that face a pandemic or other crisis. During a slowdown, entrepreneurs can boost their business and prepare for a positive resurgence when the country recovers from...

Beyond the health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, much of our current anxiety may come from the feeling that we’ve lost control of our livelihoods as business owners. In turn, this leads to further stress about how we can provide for our families and ourselves, let alone pay our bills. To regain some measure of control,...

When starting a business, it’s typical to look for venture capital, angel investors, and even co-founders to help get the company up and running. While funding is necessary for almost all businesses, seeking it out yourself isn’t necessarily the right path for everyone. Instead, knowing how to bootstrap your startup might be a better option....

Once upon a time, we had no smartphones or connected devices. Now, it’s hard to imagine a world without them. When companies first introduced these devices as business ideas, there was nothing quite like them. But visionary entrepreneurs still came up with a business plan for target markets that didn’t even exist. In many cases, it’s...

Moving forward in business is like planning a great trip: You know where you want to end up, but the road there isn’t always straightforward. Smart business goals help you navigate the twists and turns along the way. While a business plan and vision statement offer a “big picture” perspective about your company and what you want to accomplish,...

As a manager with deadlines, projects and budgets, finding time to mark employee anniversaries is challenging. But neglecting them can have detrimental effects on a company’s culture. Day-to-day responsibilities can interfere with the important, but less frequent, task of honoring years of service. It’s time to come up with some work anniversary gift ideas. Gifts...

From Kickstarter and Indiegogo to GoFundMe and everything in between, crowdfunding platforms offer alternative ways to raise money for your small business. Successful campaigns require you to not only reach a certain funding goal but also present the underlying business idea in ways that attract angel investors and other backers. For this, you’ll need a...

Entrepreneurs can sometimes become so enamored with their own business idea that they don’t know if it’s viable. Recent statistics from the Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy show that about 20 percent of small businesses fail during their first year, and a third make it to the 10-year mark. While it’s good to be passionate...

Are you writing (or rewriting) your company’s mission statement? It’s a task that can take almost as much time and thought as constructing your business plan. A company mission statement is an abbreviated version of what your business does. The best ones do wonders for the brands and corporate cultures they represent. Your mission statement...