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Small Business Matters
Not sure how to handle negative comments or criticism of your business on social media? Is the open nature of social media actually stopping you from jumping on board? Receiving criticism is never easy; it can also damage your business reputation. However, feedback and criticism in an open and social forum also gives your business an opportunity to deflect negativity and even earn you respect – if you handle it right. Here are some steps you can take to manage criticism of your business, products, or even staff on...
If you are in start-up mode and want to launch a new product, secure private funding or bring visibility to your company, then public relations is an essential tool for your box. But how do you get started if you have few resources? Here are some tips for things you can do on your own, without the help of a PR agency or expert, to get visibility for your business with potential customers or financiers. Disclaimer - I don’t take credit for these tips. They come directly from professionals via this on-demand webinar: PR 101 for Start-Ups...
Technology moves fast these days. Sometimes it’s hard to keep pace with how it can help you be more successful in business – boosting productivity, saving money and improving collaboration. This SBA guest blog from SmallBizTrends’ Anita Campbell, 4 Ways Technology Helps you Run Your Business, offers some useful tips and recommendations on how technology can help you redesign your business processes to be more efficient and save you money. Many of the innovations Anita mentions are still rather new – tablet computers,...
When it comes to purchasing products as consumers, our buying behavior typically falls into two buckets: 1. Impulse purchases (e.g., that garment that caught your eye at the store) 2. Planned purchases (TVs, cars, cell phones, tablets, vacations, home renovations, etc.) The key difference between these two purchasing models is the length of the sales cycle – and it’s an important distinction for business owners to know. Why? The sales cycle for impulse purchases is obviously the shortest. While branding, marketing,...
According to Kauffman Foundation, young entrepreneurship in the U.S. is on the rise, with the 20-34 age group comprising 29 percent of the total new entrepreneurship activity in 2011. Entrepreneurship can be an exciting adventure, and for the young it can be easier than you might think. The barriers – including cost of entry –are low, (working at home, online, etc.), and younger people are often unconstrained by the commitments of family and marriage. And of course, there are inspiring role models from big names like Facebook...
Does your business ebb and flow with the seasons? Looking to hire extra staff for the holidays or tourist season? Whatever your plans, hiring seasonal workers involves following a few rules of the road. Many of the laws and regulations that apply to full-time employees also apply to seasonal or part-time employees. Here’s what you need to know as you plan your seasonal workforce: Labor Laws Still Apply Laws that cover harassment, discrimination, and workplace health and safety apply to seasonal workers just as they do to any other...
If you run a small business, you understand the benefits of “business continuity” and the need to get a plan together to protect your company from being shut down by a disaster. As a business owner, you also depend on the well-being of your employees, clients, customers and neighbors to stay in business. So it makes good business sense to do what you can to help them prepare for any kind of disaster. The same basic preparedness tips that work for businesses – storing important records offsite, having...
Do you know where your company is headed? How do you know when it’s time to grow? How can you manage that growth so it doesn’t run away with you? In this five-minute video – Strategies for Growth – SBA, in partnership with Dell, talked to Carey Wilson of the Maryland Small Business and Technology Development Center. He offers the following five valuable tips for preparing your small business for growth. 1. When is it time to grow your business? You can only grow when business indicators show that you are ready for...
Thinking of exporting your products or services? Want to expand your existing exporting business? The U.S. government can help. The SBA, for example, is making it a priority to help small business owners develop or expand their exporting activities through initiatives such as its Export Loan Programs and free online informational videos. What else does Uncle Sam offer? Well, did you know the U.S. government can help target and facilitate meetings with potential international partners and buyers? Or that it provides U.S....
If you have a business blog, then you are probably aware of the challenges of coming up with topic ideas, finding time to write, and – let’s face it – keeping that blog alive. This explains why blogs on the subject of blogging are ranked as the most popular articles here on the SBA.gov Community. Here are just a few: Thinking of Starting a Blog? Tips to Help You Start, Maintain & Grow a Small Business Blog! Never Run Out of Blog Topic Ideas: Here are 36 8 Tips for Keeping your Business Blog Current, Relevant and...
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by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator on Thursday, October 11, 2012 - 07:15