When you hear the term “small business,” the first image is not likely to be a small farm. But, in fact, small farms are small businesses. August 6-12 has been declared “National Farmers Market Week,” by the US Department of Agriculture, and if you want to help small American farmers survive, one of the most …
One Easy Way to Grow Your Small Business
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” That old saying is as true today as it ever was. When you want to get ahead, it helps to know people. So a key business skill every small business owner needs to master is “networking”–how to get out in the world and make lots of …
Small Business Customers: Good, Bad, Ugly
Any customer is a good customer for your small business, right? After all, if someone wants to buy from you, what more can you want? Actually, lots. It turns out some customers are not worth having. And you have to learn how to get rid of them. Anyone whose been in business very long can …
Is Travel Good for Small Business?
We’re just one week away from Memorial Day–the semi-official start of the summer season. For most employees, that means it’s time to use up some of those vacation days they’ve accumulated. But if you’re a small business owner or entrepreneur, no one gives you vacation pay. So you may think of summer as the time …
8 Lessons from Airlines for Small Business
Lately, it seems like airlines can’t do anything right. They drag people off planes, kill giant rabbits, snatch strollers from babies. Is this what customer service should be all about? If you run a small business, the airlines have been giving us all a master class in “what not to do to your customers,” so …
7 Signs Your Small Business Is About to Die
Every small business owner has good days and bad days, good months and bad months. But how do you know when you’re not just experiencing a temporary downswing but are in serious trouble? Here are seven key danger signs that your business is about to fail and steps you can take to keep your business …
Make Sales, Not Tweets
Our new President, Donald Trump, spends a lot of time on Twitter. He’s tweeted almost 35,000 times and often tweets many times a day. But is all that time on social media well spent? Whether you have one of the world’s largest enterprises to run – let’s say one directly affecting 330 million of your …
Secrets of Trade Show Success
Marketing: it’s critical for success in any business, especially small businesses. But every small business has limited resources – both in terms of time and money – to spend on marketing, so make sure your marketing dollars and hours are being spent where they’ll do the most good. Where do I spend most of my …
7 Steps to Small Biz Success in 2017
It’s closing in on mid-January, and what happened to all those new year’s resolutions you set with such enthusiasm 10 days ago? Resolutions often quickly get forgotten. How can you turn your good intentions for your small business into real action? Turn those resolutions into “small business success goals” for 2017. How do goals differ …
