If you ask most small businesses “What’s the biggest threat to your business?” they’re likely to say “Amazon.” This is especially true for brick-and-mortar retailers, but Amazon is disrupting just about every industry. If your small business isn’t yet threatened by Amazon, it will be. Now, Amazon isn’t the first big company to menace small …
Facebook: A Mixed Bag for Small Business
Many small business owners watched recent revelations about Facebook with mixed emotions. Like most Americans, they were surprised to discover how much information the social media collects on its users. Even more worrisome was learning that 87 million Americans had their data exploited by Cambridge Analytica, a firm with ties to Donald Trump’s campaign, to …
Best Small Biz Advisors Share Best Small Biz Tips
America loves small business, and next week, April 29 to May 5, America observes “Small Business Week”—dedicated to recognizing the best small business owners and entrepreneurs. I also want to recognize the best small business support in the country: the consultants of America’s Small Business Development Center (ASBDC) network. So I’m hosting a Facebook Live …
Best Place to Start a Business? Check Amazon
As a journalist covering small business, my email inbox is regularly filled with press releases from companies wanting publicity. Often, they’re announcing the result of some survey they sponsored. They’ll hire a polling company, gather some data, and put out a list: Best places to retire, Best places to raise children, Best this, Best that. …
Stop Talking and Start Doing
So, you always wanted to own your own small business? You dream of being your own boss? But you’re stuck in a rut. You’re still in a dead-end job with a boss you hate. Or you’re sitting on your couch at 11 am wondering, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ Well, it’s time to …
5 Ways to Tell if your Business Idea is Any Good
Almost every time I give a speaking engagement, a wanna-be entrepreneur approaches me with their great idea for a new small business. Often, it’s a new product. Sometimes it’s a new kind of service or an innovative app. What they all have in common is the ‘this-can’t-fail’ enthusiasm of the person with the idea. But …
8 Rules for Running your Small Biz from a Café
I have a confession to make: I love doing work for my small business in a café. I’m not alone. Look around most coffee houses, and you’ll see businesspeople and students toiling away on laptops. But remember: that café owner is a small business owner too. How can you be fair to them while turning …
Instagram, It’s Not Just for Pics Anymore
Want a sell-out crowd of small business owners at your next Chamber of Commerce meeting? Then invite a speaker on the topic of “How to Increase Sales Using Social Media.” Small businesses are excited about, but challenged, when it comes to using social media for actually conducting business. Now, there’s a newly expanded tool they …
7 Reasons Your Customers Hate You
Ever wonder why your small business customers keep breaking up with you? It’s not them; it’s you. Sure, you want to blame the competition down the street—it’s younger, sexier, or cooler. But more likely, you’ve done something to irritate your small business customers—you take them for granted, you never call anymore, you don’t do the …
