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 …
8 Cheap Ways to Reward Small Biz Employees
Employees are at the heart of your small business. They serve the customers, make your product or provide your services, fill and process orders, get the shipping out the door. Without good employees, it’s tough to build a successful, profitable company. But in small businesses, money can often be tight. How can you reward good …
Millennials Aren’t as Lazy as You Thought
Millennials–Americans born between 1980 and 2000–may be the most entrepreneurial generation ever. A new study shows Millennials have more experience with small business and greater desire to start businesses than previous generations. But the study also demonstrates a continuing need for help for entrepreneurs if they’ll create the jobs America needs. The study, released May …
Hey Artist – You’re Really a Small Business
You live for your art. Every day, you paint or compose music or write short stories or make beautiful hand-crafted objects. But every day, you also need to eat. If you aren’t engaging in your art just for pleasure, you’re not only an artist, you’re a small business owner. Starving artists don’t actually last very …
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 …
9 Small Business Facts to Knock Your Socks Off
It’s Small Business Week in America, time for the country to recognize the many contributions small businesses make to our economy, our communities, and our fellow Americans. Now, if you own a small business–especially if you work from home or have just a handful of employees–acquaintances might not give you much respect. When I started …
Why the World Would End Without Women Business Owners
Women small business owners are saving America. The economic recovery has been a long, slow slog. Without women starting businesses, we’d all be in much tougher shape. Here’s why: women start businesses at a rate five times faster than men. In fact, women launch 1000 new businesses every day. Women would do a whole lot …
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Turning Grass into Green
“You’ve completely lost it now,” was the reaction of Beth Stavola’s husband when she decided to get into the medical marijuana business. But this dynamic business woman illustrates the opportunities and challenges small business owners face when getting into the booming business of marijuana and cannabis-related products. Stavola is about as unlikely a pot entrepreneur …
