October is Women’s Small Business Month. In observance of this month, I’ve got an unusual request for women who own small businesses or are thinking of getting into business. Because I desperately want you to succeed, I’d like to ask you to sit down and do something very important. I want you to do the …
6 Ways to Make the Most of Fall in Your Small Biz
The weather is suddenly cooler. Leaves are changing color. Halloween decorations fill store shelves. Suddenly, business is picking up in your small business. Welcome to Fall—for many small businesses, the busiest, most hectic, and important time of the year. How will you make the most of Fall in your small business? Fall is the time …
#AmexWelcomed Rhonda Abrams & Paddington Station—Ashland, OR
“Sometimes, I feel like I’m in a Nancy Drew mystery. I just wish I had her little roadster.” Pam Hammond, owner of Paddington Station, the “eclectic emporium” in Ashland Oregon, certainly seems like she could be a grown-up version of the clever, perky girl sleuth, solving one challenging dilemma after another. Throughout my many years …
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A Delicious Way to Savor Small Business
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 …
June 23 Take Your Dog to Your Small Biz
Woof! Allow me to introduce myself. I’m ZuZu, Rhonda Abrams’ dog. I know you’re looking for Rhonda’s small business advice, but for “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” happening on June 23, I’m taking over her column. Of course, in Rhonda’s company, every day is “Take Your Dog to Work Day,” as dogs are welcome …
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 …
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 …
