According to the 2019 Onpay Small Business Finance and HR Report, just 30 percent of small business owners hire an accountant. That’s not surprising, given how much each dollar counts to a small company. Doing the accounting yourself certainly saves some money in the short term. That said, it might be worth hiring an outside accountant for your company....

The shift in small business priorities sped up in 2020. For the last several years, a push to move from paper to digital business processes has accelerated, due in part to customer expectations. Companies also began to better understand the urgent need to lower costs and improve customer experiences. Yet many companies have hesitated, unsure...

Hackers are increasingly targeting small businesses. When setting up their companies, many entrepreneurs focus on growth and cost savings at the expense of cybersecurity. Thus, small and medium enterprises are often the least prepared for attacks.  By failing to secure your data environment, you become an easy target for cybercriminals. Therefore, it’s essential to protect...

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...

Small business owners need help, especially if they’re new to starting and growing a business. For some, that means seeking help from a more experienced colleague who can lead by example while for others, guidance comes in the form of networking events that connect them with professionals who’ve had similar experiences. While those methods are...

You may have watched some those super-expensive Superbowl ads go viral over the years and lamented your own small (or nonexistent) marketing budget, knowing that kind of exposure is out of reach. Well, it may not be after all. After this year’s Superbowl, the Brewers’ Association, an industry group representing the majority of craft brewers...

Even though the flexibility of small businesses has often been viewed as one of their positive attributes, the important issue of employee theft is related to some degree and can be considered a major downside. Recent statistics indicate that small theft by employees is only reported to the police at a rate of 16 percent. Employers have been...

In today’s crowded entrepreneurial landscape, it often feels like we’re drowning in a flood of new contacts and endless networking events. The pressure to meet as many people as possible can be overwhelming. But amidst all the hustle and bustle, there’s a significant shift happening. Many now realize that it’s not about collecting new contacts. Instead, it’s...

Have you tested your company’s success with an efficiency ratio (or multiple efficiency ratios)? “How successful is your business?” might sound like a straightforward question, but there is a boatload of different metrics you can use to quantify how successful (or unsuccessful) a given business is. When you need to take a close look at...

In 2020, students finished the final months of their school year online. The experience was frustrating and highlighted the problems with trying to keep kids focused on school and productivity. Now a new school year has begun, with many students (and parents) navigating online-only education once more. The new learning environment has already proven troublesome...