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Small Business Matters
Changing the direction of your business - including altering your product or service offering, selling to a new market, or opting for new distribution channels - is no mean feat and requires significant planning and organizational buy in. As I look around my local small business community, it's very hard to find one example of a business that has changed direction radically and achieved success in the process. Many tweak their business models or add new services to stay competitive and profitable. But few undergo a complete re-brand and...
Back in January 2009, "open government" was the hot topic in Washington, D.C. In fact, President Obama's first memorandum on entering the White House proclaimed a new era of openness in government centered around the core mandates of transparency (making government data and operations more open), participation (driving greater and more diverse expertise into government decision making) and collaboration (fostering cooperation across agencies and with the public). This week, the spotlight is firmly back on "open government...
In the past few years "business turnaround" and "entrepreneurial" reality TV shows have become compelling viewing - opening our eyes to the successes and challenges inherent in being an entrepreneur or small business owner. From UK imports, such as Shark Tank, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares and BBC America's excellent business transformation shows - Hotel Inspector and Mary Queen of Shops - to homegrown productions such as NBC's "The Restaurant" - reality-business TV offers a fascinating, albeit...
Whatever your product or service, and whatever the market - whether it be federal, state or local government - winning a share of government business can be a complex and time-consuming process. And no matter how lucrative government contracting can be, for many small business owners the prospect of contracting directly (called "prime contracting") with a government agency is simply not within their capacity or scope. This is where government subcontracting comes into play. As a small business, your best bet for winning a government...
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry is one of the natio;s largest industries, employing 1.8 million self-employed and unpaid family workers in 2008. And i-s not all-heavy constructio' -- 64 percent of these jobs fall in the specialty trade contractors sector, including plumbing, heating and air conditioning, electrical, and masonry! Despite the recession, the construction industry (in all its forms) still offers more entrepreneurial opportunities than many other industries. Of course, it takes much...
Note: The ARRA (Recovery Act) initiatives and/or programs referenced in this article will expire on September 30, 2010. Any statements about qualifying time periods, or extensions of these dates, as they pertain to the availability of ARRA programs are over-ridden by the expiration of the Act on September 30, 2010. On March 26, President Obama once again signed legislation extending the availability of Recovery Act funds for certain Small Business Administration (SBA)-guaranteed loan programs. This is the third time (and the second...
According to the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data, Hispanics are opening businesses at a rate three times faster than the national average. And, what was once regarded as a minority group now represents the fastest-growing segment of the natio;s economy. This is a fact that is not lost on the government. Speaking to Hispanic News*, Ying Lowrey, senior economist at the Small Business Administration's advocacy office, has this to say:-the contribution of minorities to the economy is tremendou'. The corollary of this is that more and more...
Often misperceived as nothing more than hobbyists and part-timers, home-based business owners represent one of the most educated, successful and growing sectors of the small business economy. And home-based businesses are on the up! According to the SBA Office of Advocacy, home-based businesses account for an estimated 52% of the 29.6 million small businesses in the U.S. And, her;s another fact that might surprise you, according to a recent Network Solutions Small Business Success Index (SBSI) survey, home-based businesses are not only...
For many new business owners,;business incorporatio- may not be a four-letter word. But i-s certainly a loaded phrase. So many myths, misconceptions and rumors abound about business incorporation that i's easy to see why some are at a loss as to whether incorporation is right for them, what costs are involved, and where to even start. And as a new business owner, as sure as eggs are eggs, someone will throw the question'is your business incorporated' into the tangled mix of the business start-up process. But rather than rush out to file...
There are many reasons why businesses fall on hard times; and i-s not always the fault of the broader economy. Poor management, a bad location, over-expansion, insufficient capital, or a lack of planning- many of these factors, if not avoided, can certainly weigh down a business or even sink it. If your business is experiencing financial difficulty and is struggling to survive, here are some steps you can take to keep the creditors and the IRS from your door, as well as some potential lifelines and'refres' business strategies that can help...
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by Caron_Beesley, Community Moderator on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 15:55